Scholtz & Company LLC Purchases 27,845 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Scholtz & Company LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 455.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,845 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises about 2.1% of Scholtz & Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Scholtz & Company LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after buying an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,075,000 after buying an additional 1,555,015 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $165.17 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $167.13. 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 company has a market capitalization of $263.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $156.35 and a 200-day moving average of $140.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

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.