Blair William & Co. IL Has $15.36 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 158,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,734 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $15,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the sale, 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 available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the sale, 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 available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $100.73 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $163.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.64.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.