Focus Financial Network Inc. Buys 635 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 25.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $958,105,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after buying an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $512,867,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $159,714,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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 note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $100.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,339,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,460,049. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $99.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.58. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11. The company has a market capitalization of $163.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.