Rogco LP Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Rogco LP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Rogco LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.0% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.7% during the first quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 89,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,500,000 after purchasing an additional 10,146 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 85.0% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 26,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,056,000 after buying an additional 12,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.3%

MS stock opened at $159.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.74. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.