Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires 3,419 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.5%, acquiring an additional 3,419 shares, bringing its total holdings to 33,170 shares worth approximately $4.67 million.
• Several significant institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, also raised their positions in Morgan Stanley recently, highlighting strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Morgan Stanley announced a $20 billion share buyback plan indicating confidence in its stock's valuation, while it also reported better-than-expected earnings with a 11.8% year-over-year revenue increase.

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,419 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after buying an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $363,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,015 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MS opened at $155.29 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $247.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $152.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.21.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $154.85.

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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