DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 17.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 692,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 105,095 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $78,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 108.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 4,372 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 6,739 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 43,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,442,000 after buying an additional 7,069 shares during the period. Finally, Davis R M Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 6,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $136.69.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $143.06. The company had a trading volume of 5,622,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,692,254. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $145.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $131.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.47. The stock has a market cap of $229.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

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.