Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Bought by FAS Wealth Partners Inc.

FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 696,646 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,240,089,000 after buying an additional 604,024 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,599,000 after buying an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,740,051,000 after buying an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,910,200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1%

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $140.80. 5,572,318 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,604,871. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $134.24 and its 200-day moving average is $127.22. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $145.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm 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 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were 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 $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 188,949 shares of company stock valued at $25,737,084 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.