Northeast Investment Management Has $2.39 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Northeast Investment Management lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 168.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 6,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Opinicus Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $250,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,051,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $98,009,000 after acquiring an additional 87,047 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Chip Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 272,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.12 on Wednesday, hitting $102.20. 2,835,823 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,337,293. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $100.16 and a 200-day moving average of $95.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The stock has a market cap of $166.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.45.

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.