Summit Investment Advisors Inc. Has $5.75 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,254 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during the first quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,075,000 after buying an additional 1,555,015 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $162.31 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $167.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $158.11 and a 200 day moving average of $142.98. 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 firm has a market cap of $257.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective 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. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.