Sapient Capital LLC Has $723,000 Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sapient Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,355 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of MS stock traded down $0.02 on Monday, hitting $94.70. 1,499,140 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,554,919. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.99. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Cfra increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.45.

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.