McNamara Financial Services Inc. Makes New $225,000 Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

McNamara Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $152.07 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $151.61 and its 200 day moving average is $135.79. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share 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 $1.00 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.