Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 23.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,766 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $157.40 on Friday. 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 1.93 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current 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 repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.15.

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.