Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC

Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $13,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 33.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,989 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.0% in the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 373.6% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 14,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 11,338 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $156.21 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $151.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.40. 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 has a market cap of $249.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $163.98.

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

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.85.

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.