Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp Raises Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 85.0% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 26,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 12,035 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 184.3% during the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $316,000. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $155.28 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.16. The company has a market cap of $247.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.25.

Morgan Stanley 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.