RFG Advisory LLC Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 41.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,649 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,426 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.54.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $160.01 on Friday. 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 has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $166.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.43 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $152.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

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.