First Citizens Financial Corp Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

First Citizens Financial Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 516 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 11,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 78.0% in the fourth quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 10,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 4,524 shares during the last quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $601,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 426.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 118,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,954,000 after purchasing an additional 96,347 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of MS opened at $156.47 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $157.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a market capitalization of $249.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $145.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.49.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

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

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 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.