EPG Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 1,435 Morgan Stanley $MS

EPG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 172.2% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 21,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 13,349 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.3% during the first quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 19,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,297 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $163.53 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.90. The firm has a market cap of $261.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $167.13.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group lifted 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. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

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.