Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $780,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the second quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $16,775,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $3,702,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $0.97 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.78. 3,393,044 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,498,540. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.51 and its 200-day moving average is $94.48. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 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.