Financial Council LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Financial Council LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 184.3% in the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $316,000. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. The trade was a 16.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $157.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $150.30 and a 200-day moving average of $134.43. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $163.98.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management 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 issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.15.

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.