Curio Wealth LLC Purchases 525 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Curio Wealth LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 26,250.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $74,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 26,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $163.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $261.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $166.77. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley 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.