Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 89,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional 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 valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $102.47 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $109.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The company has a market capitalization 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company 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 a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was 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 approximately $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was 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 approximately $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.