Garner Asset Management Corp Has $1.33 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,846,000 after buying an additional 27,845 shares during the last quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after acquiring an additional 48,812 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 247.2% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 15,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,059,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $98,787,000 after purchasing an additional 23,991 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $99.31 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $161.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.61.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.