Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Bought by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 148.6% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 7,245 shares to hold a total of 12,122 shares valued at $1,414,000.
• Morgan Stanley announced a stock buyback program allowing for the repurchase of up to $20 billion in shares, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, an increase from the previous $0.93, representing an annual yield of 2.7%.

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 148.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,122 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,245 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 5,106 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 50.8% in the 1st quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,747 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $705,000. Sciencast Management LP raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Sciencast Management LP now owns 31,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,617,000 after acquiring an additional 6,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP now owns 74,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,699,000 after acquiring an additional 11,703 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $148.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $144.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.80. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.09 and a twelve month high of $151.86.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio 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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