Tortoise Investment Management LLC Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 68.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $75,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 28,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $398,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 88,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,234,000 after purchasing an additional 22,266 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 3,376 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of 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 given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $99.27 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $161.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $100.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.72.

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 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.