Brown Financial Advisors Invests $1.96 Million in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Brown Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,958,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. 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 note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $104.42 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. 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’s 50 day moving average is $100.16 and its 200 day moving average is $97.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.40%.

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.