Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Insigneo Advisory Services LLC

Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 98.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,344 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” 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 stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $102.64 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.08. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11. The company has a market capitalization of $166.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

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 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 firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

Morgan Stanley 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.