NorthRock Partners LLC Has $2.96 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 20,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the second quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $152.07 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $242.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $151.61 and its 200-day moving average is $135.79. 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 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $163.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction 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 $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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 company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.