Yardley Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Yardley Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. 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 purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $157.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $150.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.63. 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 (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid 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 was Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

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

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.