Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC Buys 2,240 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 24.7% in the first quarter, holding shares valued at approximately $1.32 million.
• Morgan Stanley recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, an increase from the previous $0.93, representing an annualized rate of $4.00.
• Analysts currently have a consensus rating of "Hold" on Morgan Stanley's stock, with a target price averaging around $138.25.

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 24.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,240 shares during the quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Omnia Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,144,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 5,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on MS shares. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.85 during trading on Thursday, reaching $148.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,188,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,728,674. The business's 50-day moving average price is $139.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.71. The firm has a market cap of $237.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.09 and a 52 week high of $149.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. This 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 valued at $20,841,628 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley 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.