Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by HB Wealth Management LLC

HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 74,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,026 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.00.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $161.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $149.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.56. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 186,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.