Alley Investment Management Company LLC Has $9.73 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.6%, owning 69,088 shares valued at approximately $9.73 million as per its recent SEC filing.
• The company's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $2.13 EPS against a $1.98 estimate, alongside a revenue of $16.79 billion.
• Morgan Stanley announced a $20 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence in the value of its shares, and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 from $0.93.

Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $159.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $253.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $149.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.74. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $163.98. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% 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 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.25.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.