Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,502 shares during the quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after buying an additional 1,426 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the first quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 6,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 15.5% during the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 8,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 333,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,886,000 after buying an additional 19,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $155.29 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $152.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a market cap of $247.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $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 of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.85.

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.