Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,170 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the second quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.4% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 3,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $102.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $109.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $100.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.73.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

About Morgan Stanley

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.