Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $356,000.
Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 46.9% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 3,150 shares during the last quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 57,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $237,000. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 10,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the first quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 58,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,111,000 after buying an additional 5,720 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.09% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MS shares. HSBC began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.00 target price for the company. Atlantic Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Odeon Capital Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.22.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.19, for a total value of $11,898,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,011,345 shares in the company, valued at $96,269,930.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Edward N. Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total value of $9,433,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 604,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,055,028.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.19, for a total transaction of $11,898,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $96,269,930.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 369,100 shares of company stock worth $34,634,996. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.
Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.3 %
Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $84.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $140.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.27. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $74.67 and a 1 year high of $100.99.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $13.02 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 12.19%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 31st were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.96%.
Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, June 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Morgan Stanley Company 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.
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