Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.9% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 26.7% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 14,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 3,116 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.9% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 17,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,713,000 after acquiring an additional 9,459 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 111,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,810,000 after purchasing an additional 6,389 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MS. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $100.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $100.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. 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 yield of 3.67%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.