Cullinan Associates Inc. Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,420 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 73.5% in the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 5,217 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 94.7% during the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charter Oak Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 16,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,878,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $157.40 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $150.30 and its 200 day moving average is $134.63. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. 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 $251.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.92.

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.