Sax Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $228,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sax Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 18,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 122.9% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 57,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,404,000 after acquiring an additional 31,954 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Finally, Jmac Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 3,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $94.72. 3,542,800 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,594,498. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $99.24 and its 200 day moving average is $93.95. The stock has a market cap of $153.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Insider Activity

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 Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.