Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 2,304 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 355,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,304 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $34,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the second quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the first quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 3,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.0 %

MS opened at $99.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.80 and a 200-day moving average of $95.78. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11. The company has a market capitalization of $161.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last three months. Corporate 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.