Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Holdings Lifted by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 526,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,260 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $51,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 7,796 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 255.5% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 7,797 shares during the period. Hoylecohen LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Hoylecohen LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 31,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $102.47 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $100.29 and a 200-day moving average of $96.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.11. The company has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. 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. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

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.