Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys 663,454 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 41.7%, owning approximately 2.26 million shares valued at $263.1 million after purchasing 663,454 shares in Q1.
• Morgan Stanley recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00, up from $0.93, reflecting a 2.7% dividend yield.
• The company reported $2.13 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.15, with revenues of $16.79 billion, marking an 11.8% year-over-year increase.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 41.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,255,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 663,454 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.14% of Morgan Stanley worth $263,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in 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 buying an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after buying an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the first 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. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $150.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $142.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.33. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.09 and a 1 year high of $150.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm 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 2.7%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MS. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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 raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

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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