CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Buys Shares of 2,388 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in 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 valued at $3,585,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after purchasing an additional 517,446 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,883,392,000 after purchasing an additional 575,114 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $958,105,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Insider Activity 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 other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.09 on Friday, hitting $94.72. 3,542,800 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,594,498. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The company has a market cap of $153.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.