Mackenzie Financial Corp Grows Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 288,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,595 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $28,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $159,714,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 600.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,061,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $844,973,000 after buying an additional 979,250 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MS shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $104.11 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $100.11 and a 200 day moving average of $97.36. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The company has a market cap of $169.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. 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 payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Morgan Stanley 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.