Whittier Trust Co. Acquires 124 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $958,105,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 valued at $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $512,867,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during 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 period. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $159,714,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $102.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The firm has a market cap of $166.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.18.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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 business earned $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $106,620.00. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. 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 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MS. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.45.

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.