Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Lifted by Anchor Investment Management LLC

Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evercore Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after purchasing an additional 48,812 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 247.2% in the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 15,903 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.79.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $104.57 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $169.94 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.73.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given 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 yield of 3.54%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.