Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC Sells 312 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 43.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 312 shares during the period. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $48,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after acquiring an additional 117,615 shares in the last quarter. Tlwm raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $154.16 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $144.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.12. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.09 and a 1 year high of $154.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board 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.