Quadcap Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,819 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Quadcap Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 25.2%, acquiring an additional 2,819 shares, bringing its total ownership to 13,985 shares worth approximately $1,632,000.
• Brokerages have raised their price targets for Morgan Stanley, with Wells Fargo increasing theirs from $120.00 to $145.00 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising theirs to $160.00.
• Morgan Stanley declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, up from the previous $0.93, reflecting a commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Quadcap Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 25.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,819 shares during the quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $3,621,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 42.2% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,918 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,008 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of 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 research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $147.66 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $141.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.96. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $149.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 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 (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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current 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 positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

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

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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