Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Has $2.33 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,326,000 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 increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $157.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $150.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.53.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict 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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, 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 report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.92.

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.