Wright Investors Service Inc. Increases Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the second quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 2,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Inv LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. This trade represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $159.68 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $161.09.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.92.

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.