Benjamin Edwards Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 87.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,243 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $70,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $159,714,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,061,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $844,973,000 after purchasing an additional 979,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $102.47 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $166.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.86. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.