Morgan Stanley $MS Stake Lessened by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 892 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Callan Family Office LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 123.9% in the second quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 28,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 15,827 shares in the last quarter. TFR Capital LLC. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. TFR Capital LLC. now owns 4,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $304,000. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,395,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 755,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $152.07 on Monday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $151.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.79. The company has a market cap of $242.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The company 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 was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.85.

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.