Chase Investment Counsel Corp Acquires New Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on 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 research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $100.35. 594,441 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,237,408. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.75. The firm has a market cap of $163.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. 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 3.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

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.