Naviter Wealth LLC Purchases 146 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Naviter Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 102.6% during the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,262,000 after purchasing an additional 29,704 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the second quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.9% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the second quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 20,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,957,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 106,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,049,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of 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 assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $155.29 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $152.19 and a 200-day moving average of $136.21. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $247.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research 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 permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. Company 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.