2,779 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Purchased by Spartan Planning & Wealth Management

Key Points

• Spartan Planning & Wealth Management has acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley by purchasing 2,779 shares valued at approximately $391,000 during the second quarter.
• Recent insider activity included the sale of 20,000 shares by insider Charles A. Smith, and a 14.36% decrease in their position, reflecting significant insider selling trends.
• Morgan Stanley has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share, yielding 2.5%, and has also approved a stock buyback plan worth $20 billion.

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,779 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,265,000 after acquiring an additional 117,615 shares in the last quarter. Tlwm raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 26,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.00.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MS opened at $161.05 on Tuesday. 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 has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $149.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.56.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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