IFG Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

IFG Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. IFG Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.0% in the second quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 12,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,782,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Granite Group Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Group Advisors LLC now owns 18,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,561,000 after buying an additional 1,975 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 33,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,672,000 after buying an additional 3,419 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.6% during the second quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 797,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,224,000 after acquiring an additional 42,311 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Two 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $155.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $152.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.21. The company has a market capitalization of $247.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.