Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,751,000 after buying an additional 1,426 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 25.6% in the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.2% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 14,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $163.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $154.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.14. The company has a market cap of $261.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $166.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.