Diversified LLC Acquires New Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Diversified LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 15,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $319,000. South Dakota Investment Council bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $401,000. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Hartline Investment Corp raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 25,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,411,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE MS traded up $1.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $101.89. The stock had a trading volume of 3,814,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,422,925. The company has a market capitalization of $165.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.77. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last 90 days. 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.