Rossmore Private Capital Buys 939 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Rossmore Private Capital raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 939 shares during the period. Rossmore Private Capital’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 26,763 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,400,000 after purchasing an additional 42,743 shares during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 112.0% during the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,019,000 after purchasing an additional 21,090 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 503,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,699,000 after purchasing an additional 11,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 386.2% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 24,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 19,586 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:MS opened at $143.87 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $138.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.44. The stock has a market cap of $229.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $93.54 and a 12 month high of $145.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.