Calamos Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 40.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55,096 shares during the quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $101.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,814,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,422,925. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.83. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The stock has a market cap of $165.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The business 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 business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

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

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.