Venture Visionary Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 202.2% in the second quarter, acquiring an additional 42,404 shares, which brought its total holdings to 63,373 shares valued at approximately $8.93 million.
• In July, Morgan Stanley reported quarterly earnings of $2.13 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue hitting $16.79 billion, marking an 11.8% year-over-year increase.
• The company recently announced a $20 billion share buyback program and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00 per share, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 202.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,373 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 42,404 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,610,881,000 after acquiring an additional 403,956 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,523,337,000 after acquiring an additional 219,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,126,205,000 after acquiring an additional 442,617 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $161.05 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.56. 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 firm has a market cap of $257.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 45.30%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was 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 owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock 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. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $142.00.

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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