Calamos Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,294 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 679.8% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,527,000 after acquiring an additional 36,963 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 965,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $171,866,000 after acquiring an additional 67,613 shares in the last quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $1,260,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 646,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,102,000 after acquiring an additional 65,246 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE MS opened at $221.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $349.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $135.26 and a 1-year high of $230.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $209.20 and a 200-day moving average of $187.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America expects Morgan Stanley to top both consensus and its own earnings estimates, helped by strong capital markets activity, wealth-management inflows, and a favorable operating backdrop.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary points to stronger trading revenue, higher investment-banking fees, and improving net interest income as catalysts for a solid second quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors appear to be positioning ahead of Morgan Stanley’s earnings release on July 15, which is keeping attention on the stock but also introducing event risk.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent valuation-focused commentary suggested the shares may be expensive relative to current fundamentals, which could cap upside if earnings fail to impress.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MS. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. CICC Research increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.20.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.