Liberty Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 51,063 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased 51,063 shares of Morgan Stanley, valued at approximately $5.96 million, in the first quarter, as disclosed in their Form 13F filing with the SEC.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in Morgan Stanley during the same period, with notable raises including a 144.2% increase by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG.
• Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, up from $0.93, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 51,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,958,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beta Wealth Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 4,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 144.2% in the 1st quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 30,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,521,000 after acquiring an additional 17,824 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 219.1% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 1,787 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 25.6% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 361,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,229,000 after acquiring an additional 73,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 56.8% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 70,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,276,000 after acquiring an additional 25,705 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed 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, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $139.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $223.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business's fifty day moving average is $136.87 and its 200 day moving average is $128.31. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $145.48.

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, beating 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 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost 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 presently 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.

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