Banque Pictet & Cie SA Raises Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,864 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,846,000 after acquiring an additional 27,845 shares during the period. Evercore Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,857,000 after acquiring an additional 48,812 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,987,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,337,000 after acquiring an additional 9,260 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 247.2% in the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 15,903 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,059,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,787,000 after acquiring an additional 23,991 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $101.89. 3,814,813 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,422,925. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11. The company has a market cap of $165.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.83.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7 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 paid a $0.925 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

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.