Fiduciary Family Office LLC Invests $332,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Fiduciary Family Office LLC has acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley, purchasing 2,846 shares valued at approximately $332,000.
• Morgan Stanley recently reported earnings of $2.13 per share, beating estimates and showing an 11.8% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The firm has authorized a $20 billion stock buyback program, indicating the board's belief that its shares are undervalued.

Fiduciary Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 26,763 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,400,000 after buying an additional 42,743 shares during the period. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 112.0% in the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,019,000 after purchasing an additional 21,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 503,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,699,000 after purchasing an additional 11,332 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $148.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,147,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,715,286. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.09 and a 1 year high of $149.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $236.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $139.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.71.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

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.