Ashburton Jersey Ltd Invests $1.80 Million in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ashburton Jersey Ltd bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 18,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,798,000. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 0.8% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $104.51 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $109.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.85 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.69.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays boosted 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. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.79.

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.