Olistico Wealth LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Olistico Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 129.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $50,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of MS stock opened at $157.40 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $150.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.53. 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 company has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.92.

About Morgan Stanley

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.