Interchange Capital Partners LLC Acquires 177 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Interchange Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 7,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs now owns 45,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,357,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26,250.0% during the 2nd quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 406,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $163.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $166.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $261.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.14.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

Morgan Stanley 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.