Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Buys 216 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MS shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.7 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $98.25 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.25. The company has a market cap of $159.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week 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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related 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 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 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 transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, 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 in the last three months. 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.