Charter Capital Management LLC DE Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Charter Capital Management LLC recently acquired 2,735 shares of Morgan Stanley, valued at approximately $385,000, marking its new stake in the company.
• Insiders at Morgan Stanley sold a substantial number of shares, with Eric F. Grossman selling 12,000 shares for about $1.69 million and Daniel A. Simkowitz selling 29,000 shares for approximately $4.09 million.
• Morgan Stanley's stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" with various analysts recently boosting price targets, indicating a positive outlook for the company's future performance.

Charter Capital Management LLC DE bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew 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 valued at $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 117,615 shares during the period. Tlwm boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 26,763 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on 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 upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $139.92.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $160.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $256.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $147.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.13.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its 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. 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley's 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.

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