LifeWealth Investments LLC Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• LifeWealth Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley, purchasing 1,697 shares valued at approximately $239,000 in the second quarter.
• Morgan Stanley announced a $20.00 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating the board believes the stock is undervalued.
• The firm's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $2.80, exceeding estimates and reflecting an 18.5% revenue increase year-over-year.

LifeWealth Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,697 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares in the last quarter. Tlwm raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 26,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.7%

MS stock opened at $159.21 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $154.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.43. The company has a market capitalization of $254.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $166.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 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 repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $168.23.

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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