Wedmont Private Capital Buys 1,594 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,594 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $1.48 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $96.32. 2,837,887 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,541,888. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $99.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, 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 sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. 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 quarter. 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.