Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys 206,200 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 165.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 331,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 206,200 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $32,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $104.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $169.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average is $100.21 and its 200 day moving average is $97.69. 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 has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.79.

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.