Public Sector Pension Investment Board Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,073 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 328.0% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 11,295 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,796 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 255.5% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 7,797 shares in the last quarter. Hoylecohen LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Hoylecohen LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related 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 transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, 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 firm’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 completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $102.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average is $100.29 and its 200 day moving average is $96.86. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $109.11.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. 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%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

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.