Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Waldron Private Wealth LLC

Waldron Private Wealth LLC cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares during the period. Tlwm raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 26,763 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $163.78 on Monday. 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 twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $166.77. The firm has a market cap of $261.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $154.69 and a 200-day moving average of $139.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis 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 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.