Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Has $17.18 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.5% in the second quarter, owning 121,960 shares valued at $17.18 million.
• Analysts have recently raised price targets for Morgan Stanley, with Wells Fargo increasing theirs to $165, reflecting positive sentiment around the financial services provider.
• Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, up from the previous $0.93, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,265 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $17,179,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $154.85.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. The trade was a 16.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of MS opened at $155.10 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The business's fifty day moving average is $151.89 and its 200-day moving average is $136.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $247.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

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

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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