Peoples Bank OH Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Peoples Bank OH boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Peoples Bank OH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 184.3% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $316,000. Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.9% in the first quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Two investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.15.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $157.40 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.43. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The firm has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.