Baugh & Associates LLC Has $8.56 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Baugh & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the second quarter, holding 66,144 shares now valued at approximately $8.56 million.
• Insiders at Morgan Stanley recently sold significant shares, with Michael A. Pizzi selling 18,000 shares and Daniel A. Simkowitz selling 29,000 shares, indicating a decrease in their ownership positions.
• Morgan Stanley has initiated a $20 billion stock buyback plan and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00 per share, reflecting a strong outlook and confidence in the company's valuation.

Baugh & Associates LLC cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,136 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 4.4% of Baugh & Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Baugh & Associates LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. boosted 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 worth $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares during the period. Tlwm boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 26,763 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $159.68 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $254.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $161.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $146.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.55.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of 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 reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, 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. One research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $139.92.

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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