Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC Invests $252,000 in Morgan Stanley $MS

Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the second 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $165.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.71. The stock has a market cap of $264.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $166.77. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

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.