Mutual Advisors LLC Buys 1,132 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Granite Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.2% during the second quarter. Granite Group Advisors LLC now owns 18,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,975 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 33,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,672,000 after buying an additional 3,419 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 797,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,224,000 after buying an additional 42,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aries Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $241,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.54.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:MS opened at $160.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $166.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $152.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.