Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $16.52 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 170,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,082 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $16,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 328.0% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after buying an additional 11,295 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Union Savings Bank grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Moreno Evelyn V bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,995,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 177,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,568,000 after buying an additional 7,796 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $100.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $100.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.64. The firm has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 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 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.