Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 230 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the quarter. Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,610,881,000 after purchasing an additional 403,956 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,523,337,000 after purchasing an additional 219,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,126,205,000 after purchasing an additional 442,617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE MS opened at $158.70 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $166.77. The stock has a market cap of $253.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $153.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.30. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock 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 a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.54.

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.