Earnest Partners LLC Has $10.27 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Earnest Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 50.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 111,429 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075 shares during the period. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $245,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 6,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $1.71 during trading on Monday, hitting $102.48. The company had a trading volume of 5,170,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,641,724. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.18.

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.