Alberta Investment Management Corp Has $1.68 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 36%, owning 14,400 shares worth $1.68 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Insider transactions included Daniel A. Simkowitz and Charles A. Smith selling a combined total of 49,000 shares of Morgan Stanley on July 17th, which reflects a decrease in their ownership stakes.
• Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share, up from $0.93, along with a new stock buyback plan allowing repurchase of $20 billion in outstanding shares.

Alberta Investment Management Corp lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 36.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,100 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.2% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,037 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 22.7% in the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 966 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.4% in the first quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.4% in the first quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC now owns 39,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,570,000 after purchasing an additional 2,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.8% in the first quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,363 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, 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 in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $139.09 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $223.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock's 50-day moving average is $136.87 and its 200-day moving average is $128.26. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $145.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

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.

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