Global Retirement Partners LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 23,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,331,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after buying an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the first 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 during the second quarter valued at $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $162.85 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $171.77. 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 50 day moving average price of $160.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.36.

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.