Goldstone Financial Group LLC Has $1.01 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Goldstone Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.25.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $156.47 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $145.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $157.76.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, 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 dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.