Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC dramatically cut its stake in Morgan Stanley by 93.9%, now holding only 4,330 shares, which accounts for about 1.9% of its portfolio.
• Multiple large investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have increased their stakes in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter, showcasing ongoing institutional interest in the company.
• Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, marking a boost from its previous dividend, and has initiated a $20 billion share buyback plan, signaling confidence in its stock value.

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 93.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 66,368 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 1.9% of Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its stake 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 valued at $363,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,015 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $150.50 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $150.75. The company's fifty day moving average price is $143.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $240.25 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 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 the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued 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 of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

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

Morgan Stanley Company 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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