Boston Trust Walden Corp Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6,017.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 148,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 145,810 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 29,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,137,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $822,000. RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 41.1% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 9,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares in the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.5% in the second quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 102.6% in the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,262,000 after purchasing an additional 29,704 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $155.29 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $247.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.21.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.85.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.