Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Capital Investment Counsel LLC

Capital Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of 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% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. AlTi Global Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 13,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alteri Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $305,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2%

MS stock opened at $150.50 on Monday. 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 has a 1-year low of $94.09 and a 1-year high of $150.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $143.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.31. The firm has a market cap of $240.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.