Investment Partners LTD. Purchases Shares of 2,098 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Investment Partners LTD. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $958,105,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 worth $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $512,867,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $159,714,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $97.03 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $100.65 and its 200-day moving average is $96.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.