River Street Advisors LLC Buys 776 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

River Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.3% of River Street Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 168,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,728,000 after purchasing an additional 20,975 shares in the last quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 7,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $212,000. Finally, McGuire Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 81,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,440,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $155.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.16. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a market capitalization of $247.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.32. 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 data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% 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 Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.25.

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.