Quest Partners LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,297,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,846,000 after purchasing an additional 27,845 shares in the last quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,857,000 after acquiring an additional 48,812 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,987,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,337,000 after acquiring an additional 9,260 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 247.2% in the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 15,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,059,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,787,000 after purchasing an additional 23,991 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $98.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. 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 has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $100.77 and a 200 day moving average of $96.08.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.