Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC has purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley, acquiring 3,574 shares valued at approximately $417,000.
• Morgan Stanley has increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, reflecting a boost from the previous $0.93 and a yield of 2.7%.
• The company has announced a $20 billion stock buyback plan, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,531 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 41.3% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 25,478 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,973,000 after acquiring an additional 7,451 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 126,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,795,000 after acquiring an additional 27,998 shares in the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,629,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $150.50. 3,627,988 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,494,344. The business's 50 day moving average is $143.05 and its 200-day moving average is $129.37. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.09 and a 1 year high of $150.75. The company has a market capitalization of $240.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.