Eads & Heald Wealth Management Sells 342 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Eads & Heald Wealth Management lowered its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 342 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during 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. Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 73.5% in the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after buying an additional 5,217 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 94.7% during the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charter Oak Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 16,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,878,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.92.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $157.40 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.63. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $251.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.