2,238 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by Veracity Capital LLC

Veracity Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 517,446 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,883,392,000 after purchasing an additional 575,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $958,105,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1 %

MS stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $100.69. 3,575,445 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,474,196. The firm has a market cap of $163.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year 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. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.58.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Morgan Stanley 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.