Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Acquires New Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 98,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,603,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,498,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,217,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:MS opened at $104.60 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $100.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.12. 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 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm 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 3.54%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. 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 Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have 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 equities analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

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.