HM Payson & Co. Has $574,000 Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

HM Payson & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 421 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $958,105,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $512,867,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $159,714,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $5.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $95.85. The company had a trading volume of 11,120,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,699,997. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $109.11. The company has a market capitalization of $155.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $99.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.67.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Cfra raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the 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 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 link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,954 shares of company stock worth $27,239,058 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.