2,572 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Purchased by MBB Public Markets I LLC

Key Points

• MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired 2,572 shares of Morgan Stanley valued at approximately $300,000, marking their first position in the financial services provider.
• Insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares on July 17, resulting in a 6.05% decrease in ownership, while Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares, decreasing his ownership by 14.36%.
• Morgan Stanley recently authorized a $20 billion share buyback plan and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, raising the annual dividend yield to 2.6%.

MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 217.6% in the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 9,938 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 6,809 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 440.2% in the first quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 4,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 4,006 shares in the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 148.6% in the first quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,122 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 7,245 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 13.5% in the first quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 5,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 50.8% in the first quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,747 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $156.56 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $145.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.31. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $157.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

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.

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