5,834 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Acquired by Morningstar Investment Management LLC

Morningstar Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSFree Report) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 41.1% in the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 9,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 102.6% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,262,000 after purchasing an additional 29,704 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MS. 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 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.85.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MS

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, 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 Stock Up 2.1%

MS opened at $155.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $151.89 and its 200 day moving average is $136.07. The stock has a market cap of $247.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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