GM Advisory Group LLC Purchases 267 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

GM Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the second quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the first 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. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $100.73 on Friday. 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 company 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $100.33 and a 200-day moving average of $96.64.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 3.67%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now 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 is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.