McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. Purchases 2,623 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,623 shares during the period. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after acquiring an additional 117,615 shares in the last quarter. Tlwm increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $156.21 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $151.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.40. The firm has a market cap of $249.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.85.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% 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 insiders.

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.