Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st 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% in the 1st 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% in the 1st 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

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $152.07 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $242.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.79.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.