Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Position Lifted by Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,952 shares during the quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after buying an additional 117,615 shares in the last quarter. Tlwm boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $156.47 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $157.76. The company has a market cap of $249.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.49.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.