Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 581 shares during the quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the second 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $160.13 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $255.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $148.67 and its 200-day moving average is $133.09. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 value of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. 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 insiders.

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.