Glass Wealth Management Co LLC Acquires 120 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Glass Wealth Management Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.8% of Glass Wealth Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,075,000 after buying an additional 1,555,015 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $157.40 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.63.

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 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 company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

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

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.