Opinicus Capital Inc. Has $604,000 Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Opinicus Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the 2nd 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 period. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the 2nd 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. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.1%

MS opened at $163.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $260.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $159.79 and its 200-day moving average is $144.79. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $171.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

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.