First Foundation Advisors Decreases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First Foundation Advisors decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 181 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the first quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 3,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.1% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.9% during the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.18.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were 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 approximately $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were 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 approximately $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 255,454 shares of company stock valued at $26,870,683 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS traded down $2.72 during trading on Friday, hitting $102.09. The stock had a trading volume of 12,555,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,320,718. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.88. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

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.