Chilton Capital Management LLC Buys 116,157 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 33.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 463,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 116,157 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 2.4% of Chilton Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Chilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $65,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the first quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.8%

MS stock opened at $163.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $261.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $166.77. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Three 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

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.