Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Sells 320 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 159,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $22,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Congress Park Capital LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MS. Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.54.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $161.87 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $166.77. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $153.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.