Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Bought by Tyche Wealth Partners LLC

Tyche Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares during the period. Tlwm lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 26,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 report on Tuesday, September 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $155.84 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.04. The company has a market cap of $248.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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 issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.