RMR Wealth Builders Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• RMR Wealth Builders significantly increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 59.5%, now holding 6,128 shares valued at approximately $863,000.
• Insider sales included Eric F. Grossman and Daniel A. Simkowitz, who sold 12,000 and 29,000 shares, respectively, resulting in a reduction of their ownership.
• Morgan Stanley's Board of Directors authorized a $20 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in the stock's undervaluation, alongside a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share.

RMR Wealth Builders increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 59.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders' holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. One investment 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, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $156.47 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $157.76. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $145.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released 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. 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 analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 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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