Sunpointe LLC Grows Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Sunpointe LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at $17,988,234.22. This trade represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MS stock opened at $155.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $248.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $158.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $145.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.84.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reissued 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 issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.92.

Morgan Stanley 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.