Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 1,706 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 330.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,706 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,228,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,292,000 after acquiring an additional 495,055 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,387,000 after acquiring an additional 303,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $107.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $100.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.98. The company has a market cap of $175.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.68.

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.