Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Raises Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 32.9%, acquiring an additional 23,481 shares, bringing their total ownership to 94,846 shares worth approximately $11 million.
• Insiders sold a combined total of 148,149 shares of Morgan Stanley worth over $20.8 million in the last 90 days, indicating potential shifts in insider confidence.
• Morgan Stanley's Board of Directors authorized a $20 billion stock buyback program and also announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share, reflecting a strong financial position.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 32.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,481 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Omnia Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,144,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 5,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $144.55 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The firm has a market cap of $230.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.09 and a 12-month high of $149.08. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $139.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.68.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.