Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Has $6.51 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 96.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,378 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AA Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.0% in the first quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 1,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $10,088,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $91,239,000. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 21,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,580,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $221.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $348.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $135.26 and a 1-year high of $230.47. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley announced a new $20 billion stock buyback authorization and raised its quarterly dividend, reinforcing confidence in balance-sheet strength and future cash generation.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lifted its price target on Morgan Stanley to $225, suggesting modest upside from current levels and helping support investor sentiment.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also received a tenth consecutive “Outstanding” rating from the OCC for community reinvestment activities, a reputational plus for the banking franchise.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles noted broad banker strength after the Fed stress test, which could provide a favorable backdrop for Morgan Stanley and peers through dividend and buyback expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s private-credit fund withdrawal caps, but that appears more like a sector liquidity issue than a direct operating setback for MS today.
• Negative Sentiment: Some private-credit headlines may keep pressure on financials with alternatives exposure, as investors worry about redemption risk and liquidity conditions across the sector.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.50.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.