Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Invests $244,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, First United Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of MS traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $95.71. 1,013,915 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,530,121. 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 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The company has a market cap of $155.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.04.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share 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 11.90%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MS. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.