Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 25.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,748 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $437,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the first quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 88,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,325,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $158.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $166.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $153.29 and a 200 day moving average of $137.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The company had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in 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 typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.54.

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.