Ballentine Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.4% in the second quarter, owning 58,250 shares worth approximately $8.2 million.
• Morgan Stanley's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with $2.13 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.98, and reporting $16.79 billion in revenue.
• The company announced a $20 billion share buyback program and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00, indicating confidence in its financial position.

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,997 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,024,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Brucke Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $228,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $139.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:MS opened at $160.76 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The firm has a market cap of $256.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $147.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.13.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors 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%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows 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.

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.

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