Cwm LLC Purchases 1,228 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Cwm LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 118,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,228 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $16,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 32,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,832,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 29,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,471,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.1%

MS stock opened at $155.10 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $151.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $247.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.