Acadian Asset Management LLC Has $27.77 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.7%, selling 28,473 shares to hold a total of 238,108 shares valued at approximately $27.77 million.
• Insider sales were notable, with two executives selling a total of 30,000 shares on July 17th, decreasing their ownership stakes by 6.05% and 11.66% respectively.
• Morgan Stanley recently announced a dividend increase to $1.00 per share, and has authorized a share repurchase plan worth $20 billion, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Acadian Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 238,108 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 28,473 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $27,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,610,881,000 after purchasing an additional 403,956 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,523,337,000 after acquiring an additional 219,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,126,205,000 after acquiring an additional 442,617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:MS traded down $0.01 on Friday, hitting $156.47. 4,341,386 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,375,522. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $157.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $145.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.49. The company has a market cap of $249.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.