Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by KPP Advisory Services LLC

KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in 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 purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $104.24 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $100.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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 business had revenue of $15.02 billion for 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 11.85%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Morgan Stanley’s 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.