Code Waechter LLC Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Code Waechter LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 38.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $136.69.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $141.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock has a market cap of $227.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.47. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $145.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

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.