Old North State Trust LLC Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Old North State Trust LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 37.6% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 39,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,658,000 after buying an additional 10,725 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $254,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 627,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,516,000 after purchasing an additional 25,795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $104.11 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $169.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.42. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, 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 value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

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.