Trajan Wealth LLC Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Trajan Wealth LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Trajan Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AGF Management Ltd. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 33.9% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 430,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,262,000 after purchasing an additional 108,960 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 49.9% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 18,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 6,204 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 24.7% during the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 11,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.7% during the first quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 9,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5%

MS opened at $143.87 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $93.54 and a one year high of $145.48. 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $138.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.44. 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 (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by 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.