B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the first quarter, owning 151,387 shares worth approximately $17.66 million after selling 40,642 shares.
• Many institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have increased their positions in Morgan Stanley, reflecting positive sentiment toward the company's stock.
• Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share and approved a $20 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating confidence in its current stock valuation.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 21.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 40,642 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $17,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $363,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,015 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $148.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.09 and a 1-year high of $149.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $142.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.10.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Profile

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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