Nottingham Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Nottingham Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of 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 boosted their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $100.21. The company had a trading volume of 482,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,237,408. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.73 and its 200 day moving average is $95.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Morgan Stanley 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.