SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda Has $3.35 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 70.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 83,110 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,146,293.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1 %

MS opened at $104.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $169.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $100.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer cut 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 Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

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.