Silverlake Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,027 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Silverlake Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $26,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.06.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $110.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $111.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.96%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,759,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.