Arkadios Wealth Advisors Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 48.7% in Q1, raising its stake to $1.12 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported earnings of $2.13 per share, exceeding estimates, and achieved a revenue of $16.79 billion for the last quarter.
• The company announced a new $20 billion share buyback program and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00, reflecting confidence in its stock's valuation.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 48.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,134 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup restated 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $2.16 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $141.25. 3,851,495 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,735,002. The stock has a market cap of $226.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $145.48. The firm's 50 day moving average is $136.87 and its 200 day moving average is $128.26.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio 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.