Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Raises Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $958,105,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $512,867,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $159,714,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.45.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the 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 owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:MS traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $103.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,951,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,299,212. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $109.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.35 and a 200-day moving average of $95.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.40%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.