SteelPeak Wealth LLC Has $3.48 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

SteelPeak Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 59.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,450 shares during the quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.92.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $158.12 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.89. 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 has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its 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. 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 business earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

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.