Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Buys New Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $637,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the 1st 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 during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted 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 buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.7%

MS opened at $152.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $242.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $151.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. 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. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.85.

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.