Aberdeen Group plc Buys 88,022 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,146,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 88,022 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $160,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE:MS opened at $152.07 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $151.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.58. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market cap of $242.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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