Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21%, holding nearly 49,000 shares worth approximately $5.7 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Morgan Stanley reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.13, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.98, along with an 11.8% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders, along with a year-to-date stock price performance reflecting positive growth.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 21.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,492 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Bluefin Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $315,000. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,719,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 112,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,156,000 after acquiring an additional 5,596 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $449,000. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $186,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of MS stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $156.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,341,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,375,522. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $157.76. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $145.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.49. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors 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. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.