Resources Investment Advisors LLC. Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 21st, 2023

Resources Investment Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Arlington Partners LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,611.8% in the 1st quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Elequin Securities LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 208.3% during the 1st quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Odeon Capital Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Atlantic Securities boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $91.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.06.

Read Our Latest Report on MS

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.0 %

MS opened at $84.89 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $140.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $74.67 and a twelve month high of $100.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.02 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 12.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a $0.85 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 59.96%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, June 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 5,600 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.41, for a total value of $517,496.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 136,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,615,166.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Stanley Morgan sold 1,049,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total value of $9,921,451.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,456,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,917,525.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.41, for a total transaction of $517,496.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 136,513 shares in the company, valued at $12,615,166.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,418,989 shares of company stock worth $44,556,447 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

(Free Report)

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.