Czech National Bank Acquires 17,748 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• The Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.2%, bringing its total to 301,957 shares valued at approximately $42.5 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported $2.13 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $1.98, with revenues rising 11.8% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a share buyback of up to $20 billion, indicating that the board believes its stock is undervalued.

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 301,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 17,748 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $42,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $156.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $249.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $145.56 and a 200-day moving average of $130.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $158.48.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was 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 90 days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. 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 objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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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