Realta Investment Advisors Has $34,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Realta Investment Advisors cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 133 shares during the period. Realta Investment Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $34,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake 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 worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 5,217 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charter Oak Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 16,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:MS opened at $157.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. The company has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.30 and a 200-day moving average of $134.63.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Evercore ISI increased 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.92.

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.