Oakworth Capital Inc. Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Oakworth Capital Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 139 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,610,881,000 after purchasing an additional 403,956 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,337,000 after purchasing an additional 219,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,126,205,000 after purchasing an additional 442,617 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $160.13 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $148.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.25. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $255.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.00.

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.