Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. Takes $395,000 Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Park Capital LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $162.31 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $167.13. The firm has a market cap of $257.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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