Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Perigon Wealth Management LLC

Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 31,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 673 shares during the quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,610,881,000 after acquiring an additional 403,956 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,337,000 after acquiring an additional 219,729 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,126,205,000 after acquiring an additional 442,617 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.7%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $158.96 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $148.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.63. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $253.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.92.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. The trade was a 16.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. Company 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.