Ascent Group LLC Acquires 443 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 5,217 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Finally, Charter Oak Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the first quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 16,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $157.40 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.30 and a 200-day moving average of $134.63. 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 current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. 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 note on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 note on Tuesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.92.

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.