Aberdeen Group plc Buys 88,022 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,146,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 88,022 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.07% of Morgan Stanley worth $160,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lmcg Investments LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the second quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 85,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,993,000 after purchasing an additional 3,283 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.6% during the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 6,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 15,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,128,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.2% during the second quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 21,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,966,000 after acquiring an additional 2,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coordinated Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $210,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.7%

MS opened at $152.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market cap of $242.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $151.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.58.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase 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 has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.85.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider 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. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.