Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Has $622,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 179.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the second quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 24.4% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One 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, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $102.34 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.11. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $100.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.08. The firm has a market cap of $166.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 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 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 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 earned $1.24 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 3.62%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the 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 directly 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 is available at this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company 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.