Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.3%, owning a total of 79,734 shares valued at approximately $9.3 million.
• Wells Fargo raised its price target for Morgan Stanley shares from $120.00 to $145.00, reflecting positive outlook among analysts, with a consensus rating of "Hold".
• Morgan Stanley recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share and approved a share repurchase program allowing up to $20 billion in buybacks, indicating management's confidence in the stock value.

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,734 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,578 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $152.22 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.09 and a 52 week high of $152.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a market cap of $242.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.33.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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