Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 12,298 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.3%, purchasing an additional 12,298 shares to hold a total of 982,218 shares valued at approximately $141.58 million.
• A variety of institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs Group, have significantly increased their holdings, with Vanguard now owning over 117 million shares worth nearly $13.74 billion.
• Morgan Stanley recently raised its dividend to $1.00 per share, reflecting a 2.5% yield, and announced a stock buyback program authorizing up to $20 billion in repurchases, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 982,218 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,298 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $141,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares in the last quarter. Tlwm raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. Citigroup reissued 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $139.92.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3%

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $159.68. 14,899,195 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,623,391. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $161.09. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $146.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. 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 business earned $1.82 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley 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.