First National Corp MA ADV Buys New Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• First National Corp MA ADV acquired 1,648 shares of Morgan Stanley, valued at approximately $232,000, during the second quarter.
• Morgan Stanley reported a Q2 EPS of $2.13, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.98, with revenues of $16.79 billion.
• The company has authorized a $20 billion share buyback program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

First National Corp MA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the first quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.68. 14,899,195 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,623,391. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.49. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $161.09. The company has a market cap of $254.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $139.92.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley 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.