Focused Investors LLC Has $176.06 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Focused Investors LLC decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,249,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,100 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 5.8% of Focused Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Focused Investors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $176,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.4%

MS opened at $155.84 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $150.86 and a 200-day moving average of $135.04. 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 company has a market capitalization of $248.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.