New Hampshire Trust Buys 1,217 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

New Hampshire Trust raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 51.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the quarter. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $163.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $261.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $166.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.14. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The company’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued 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 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.23.

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.