Abel Hall LLC Grows Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Abel Hall LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 14.4% during the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the first quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 33.5% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 11,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 9.0% during the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets started 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company 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 assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE MS opened at $155.63 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $151.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market cap of $248.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $163.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

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.