Rogco LP Purchases 620 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Rogco LP grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the period. Rogco LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first 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 bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $159.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $149.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.74. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.25.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.