KCM Investment Advisors LLC Has $2.51 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,840 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 170,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,527,000 after purchasing an additional 14,603 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 257,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,049,000 after buying an additional 5,896 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 16,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,575,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 59.2% during the 2nd quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 32,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,204,000 after buying an additional 12,255 shares during the period. Finally, F M Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $8,858,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on MS shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $103.63 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.11. The company has a market capitalization of $168.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

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.