Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Has $2.49 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MS. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock 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 given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $102.47 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.78. The firm has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.