Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Raises Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 302,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,995 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $42,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.7% during the second quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.0% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 264,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,310,000 after acquiring an additional 34,524 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $230,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 9,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WP Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $245,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $163.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $260.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.79. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $171.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

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.