Tlwm Has $1.94 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Tlwm trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 72 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 0.4% of Tlwm’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Tlwm’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 8,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 2,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $802,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $161.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 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 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $166.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $152.60 and its 200-day moving average is $136.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Citigroup increased 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.85.

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.