NewEdge Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 101,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,777 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 2,502 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 17,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after buying an additional 3,761 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 152,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,256,000 after buying an additional 3,463 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1 %

MS stock opened at $104.24 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $109.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $100.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.52. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $169.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley 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.