Creative Planning Increases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 211,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 41,660 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 17,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 152,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,463 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE MS opened at $104.24 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.52. 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 has a market capitalization of $169.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS 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 business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed 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 lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

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.