Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 779,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 161,230 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $90,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,400,000 after purchasing an additional 42,743 shares during the last quarter. Pamalican Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $4,513,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 112.0% during the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,019,000 after purchasing an additional 21,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 503,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,699,000 after buying an additional 11,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:MS opened at $141.04 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.11. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $145.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The company has a market cap of $226.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.