B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Evercore Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 48,812 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 15,903 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at about $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% during the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on MS shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $104.42 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.16 and a 200-day moving average of $97.64. The company 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. 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 (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.