Short Interest in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Grows By 29.0%

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,990,000 shares, an increase of 29.0% from the June 30th total of 10,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,954 shares of company stock worth $27,239,058 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Cfra increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.18.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of MS opened at $102.48 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $99.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.67, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 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 analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

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.