McGuire Investment Group LLC Buys 1,096 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

McGuire Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 81,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 1.5% of McGuire Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. McGuire Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,610,881,000 after acquiring an additional 403,956 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,337,000 after acquiring an additional 219,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,126,205,000 after acquiring an additional 442,617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.25.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.2%

MS opened at $157.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $250.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $149.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.90. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley 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.