Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Raised by Global Financial Private Client LLC

Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1,543.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,882 shares during the period. Global Financial Private Client LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 170,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,527,000 after buying an additional 14,603 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 257,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,049,000 after buying an additional 5,896 shares in the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 16,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 59.2% in the second quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 32,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,204,000 after buying an additional 12,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $8,858,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.03 on Friday, reaching $103.63. 4,951,063 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,299,212. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $100.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.23. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley 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.