Westover Capital Advisors LLC Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 42.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 46.9% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 57,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 10,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the first quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 58,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,111,000 after buying an additional 5,720 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.09% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE MS opened at $85.55 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $141.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.94. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $74.67 and a 52 week high of $100.99.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The firm had revenue of $13.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.96%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, June 30th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $91.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Odeon Capital Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Edward N. Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total transaction of $9,433,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 604,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,055,028.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Edward N. Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total value of $9,433,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 604,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,055,028.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 13,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total value of $1,242,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,634,528. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 369,100 shares of company stock worth $34,634,996 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.