Stance Capital LLC Increases Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Stance Capital LLC significantly increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by acquiring 22,796 shares, bringing its total holdings to 22,802 shares, valued at approximately $2.66 million.
• Multiple analysts have recently raised their price targets for Morgan Stanley, with the consensus target now set at $138.25 and a majority rating it as "Hold."
• Morgan Stanley recently declared a $1.00 quarterly dividend, up from the previous $0.93, alongside announcing a $20 billion stock buyback program to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock.

Stance Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 379,933.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,796 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.9% of Stance Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Stance Capital LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the 1st 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, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $1.94 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $154.16. 4,944,529 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,490,256. The company has a market cap of $246.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $144.60 and a 200 day moving average of $129.96. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.09 and a 52-week high of $154.53. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.