Stephens Inc. AR Sells 226 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 226 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of MS stock opened at $159.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $254.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $166.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $153.89 and its 200 day moving average is $137.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.