Leeward Financial Partners LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Leeward Financial Partners LLC acquired 2,029 shares of Morgan Stanley, valued at approximately $237,000, during the 1st quarter.
• Morgan Stanley's board has approved a $20 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating management's belief that shares may be undervalued.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Leeward Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $2.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $143.23. 3,942,908 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,415,230. The firm has a market cap of $228.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $93.54 and a 1 year high of $145.48. The stock's fifty day moving average is $137.93 and its 200 day moving average is $128.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for 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%. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board 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 issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.