ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 11,407 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 254,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,407 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $24,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $102.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $100.24 and its 200 day moving average is $96.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

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 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 transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.