MBL Wealth LLC Takes $237,000 Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

MBL Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 2nd 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. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.92.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $157.40 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $251.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. 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 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $150.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.63.

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 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 business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was 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 directly 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 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.