Stolper Co Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Stolper Co lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the quarter. Stolper Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 426.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 118,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,954,000 after buying an additional 96,347 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,024,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 23,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,980,000 after buying an additional 2,217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $159.28 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $160.14. The firm has a market cap of $254.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. The trade was 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 worth $20,841,628 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.92.

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.