Cypress Financial Planning LLC Increases Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Cypress Financial Planning LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 28.1% in Q2, owning 37,713 shares valued at approximately $5.31 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported a quarterly EPS of $2.13, exceeding estimates, with revenue reaching $16.79 billion—an 11.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $1.00 per share and authorized a $20 billion share buyback program, indicating management's confidence in the stock's valuation.

Cypress Financial Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,713 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,262 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 1.7% of Cypress Financial Planning LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Cypress Financial Planning LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,555,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $139.92.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.83 on Monday, hitting $160.74. 4,388,941 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,492,487. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $146.84 and a 200-day moving average of $131.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $161.09. The stock has a market cap of $256.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

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.