RMG Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 248 Morgan Stanley $MS

RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. McLean Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% 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. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $155.84 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-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. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $150.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

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.