Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Arista Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $468,000. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $205,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 526,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,137,000 after purchasing an additional 8,260 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 89,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,656,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 13.0% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 271,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,429,000 after buying an additional 31,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MS. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $102.47 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.29 and a 200-day moving average of $96.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. 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 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.