Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. Makes New $395,000 Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% during the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 113.0% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $162.31 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $158.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.42. The firm has a market cap of $257.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $167.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 note on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

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.