Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 1,170 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares

VaselineSeptember 21, 2024

0 5 minutes read

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,170 shares during the period. The holdings of Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in 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 worth $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Focused Investors Fund LP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $159,714,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,581,000 after buying an additional 1,116,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,061,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $844,973,000 after buying an additional 979,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s shares.

Morgan Stanley trading rose 1.7%

Shares of MS opened at $102.47 on Friday. The stock’s fifty-day simple moving average is $100.29, and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11.

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Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Your Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. In the same period last year, the firm posted earnings per share of $1.24. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley has increased its dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a dividend of $3.70 on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible via this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available via this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of shares are currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts set new price targets

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report from Friday, August 2. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73, based on data from MarketBeat.

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About Morgan Stanley

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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.