Mission Wealth Management LP Raises Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Mission Wealth Management LP raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $163.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.90. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $167.13. The company has a market capitalization of $261.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Three 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

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.