Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 666 shares during the quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $25,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Three research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $165.21 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $263.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $167.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $155.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.12.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.