FCG Investment Co Invests $225,000 in Morgan Stanley $MS

FCG Investment Co bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after buying an additional 117,615 shares in the last quarter. Tlwm boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $158.96 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $132.63. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $163.98. 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 market cap of $253.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. 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 research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. 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 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.