Salomon & Ludwin LLC Buys 400 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 533.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $55,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,845,895,000 after buying an additional 696,646 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,240,089,000 after buying an additional 604,024 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after buying an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $1,910,200,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $141.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $226.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $142.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.62.

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.