Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Purchases 27,902 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 57.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,902 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.38.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $178.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $164.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.23. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $181.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

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.