Chesapeake Wealth Management Sells 481 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Chesapeake Wealth Management lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 481 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,228,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,886,292,000 after buying an additional 495,055 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after buying an additional 303,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,061,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $844,973,000 after buying an additional 979,250 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $102.47 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.73.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.