Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,389 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,846,000 after purchasing an additional 27,845 shares during the period. Evercore Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,857,000 after acquiring an additional 48,812 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,987,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,337,000 after acquiring an additional 9,260 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 247.2% in the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 15,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,059,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,787,000 after purchasing an additional 23,991 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:MS opened at $100.73 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.64. The company has a market capitalization of $163.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 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.