Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.4% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,498,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 3,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $100.15 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $100.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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 company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.45.

About Morgan Stanley

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.