Ieq Capital LLC Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,389 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:MS opened at $100.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.64. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. The company has a market capitalization of $163.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MS shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

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.