Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,157 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diligent Investors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 14,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 92.7% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 409,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,648,000 after buying an additional 196,836 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank OH boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.3% during the second quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 4,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 13,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, NTV Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $242,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.92.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $158.12 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.