Trump Victory Prompts Morgan Stanley (MS) Executives to Jettison Shares Amid Surge in Financial Stocks, Plus Other Noteworthy Insider Trading

Former CEO of New England’s Largest Energy Delivery Company Offloads Shares

One insider at Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) offloaded a great deal of shares at the beginning of the week. Thomas J. May, Chairman of the Board of Eversource Energy, discarded 200,000 shares on Tuesday at prices that fell between $55.00 and $55.31 per share. Mr. May, President and CEO of the company from April 2012 until May 2016, currently holds a direct ownership stake of 679,499 shares.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES), New England’s largest energy delivery company, has seen its market capitalization increase by 2% since the start of the year. In mid-October, analysts at Argus cut their price target on Eversource Energy to $59 from $64, reflecting a decline in industry-wide price-to-earnings multiples since the beginning of the third quarter, as well as their expectations for an interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve in December. “Utilities as a group are heavily debt-financed and aggregate interest charges are likely to rise in the event of a rate hike. In addition, in a rising interest rate environment, equity investors seeking income often move away from utility shares and turn to the bond market, as fixed-income rates begin to rise,” said one of Argus’ analysts in October.

Executives at Morgan Stanley Jettison Shares

Two members of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)’s executive team discarded some shares earlier this week. To start with, Daniel Simkowitz, the Head of Investment Management at Morgan Stanley since October 2015, liquidated 60,119 shares on Thursday at prices varying from $37.24 to $38.00 per share, cutting his overall holding to 262,784 shares. Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Pruzan sold 44,625 shares on Tuesday at prices that fell between $33.78 and $34.11 per share. Mr. Pruzan currently owns an aggregate of 210,813 shares.

The shares of banks, stock exchanges, and brokers surged after news emerged that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will become the next President of the United States, and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)’s shares were no exception. Retail and institutional investors channeled more capital into financial and pharmaceutical securities on the expectation that a Republican-led government would loosen regulations governing the two industries. In mid-August, activist investor Jeffrey Ubben of ValueAct Capital initiated a 38 million-share stake in Morgan Stanley, suggesting that the market was undervaluing the diversified financial services company. Morgan Stanley’s shares are 18% in the green this year. Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management cut its holding in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13% during the September quarter, to 11.34 million shares.

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