Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 33.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,333,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,175,579 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.14% of Morgan Stanley worth $226,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of MS opened at $100.73 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. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.64. The company has a market capitalization of $163.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.40%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.