RWA Wealth Partners LLC Grows Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

RWA Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 42.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after acquiring an additional 117,615 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $362,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $162.31 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $158.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.42. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $167.13.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were 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 $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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, October 3rd. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

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.