SPC Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,187 Morgan Stanley $MS

SPC Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake 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, Abound Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% 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 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $152.07 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 company has a market cap of $242.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $151.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm’s 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. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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 issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.