Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $30,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, 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. Eleven research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.62.

View Our Latest Report on MS

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $144.50 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $144.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $129.00 and its 200-day moving average is $125.93.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Morgan Stanley

(Free Report)

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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