Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $102.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.78. The firm has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI upped 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target 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 given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the 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 approximately $9,266,848.03. 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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.