Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 44,509 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 169.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 44,509 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Congress Park Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $157.40 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. The stock's fifty day moving average is $150.30 and its 200 day moving average is $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $152.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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