Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 179,708 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH sold 179,708 shares of Morgan Stanley, reducing its stake by 52.1%, leaving it with 165,145 shares valued at approximately $19.4 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Insider sales included Eric F. Grossman and Charles A. Smith, who sold a combined 32,000 shares valued over $4.5 million, indicating a decrease in their ownership.
• Morgan Stanley announced a $20 billion stock repurchase plan and recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00, reflecting confidence in the company's value and financial health.

Erste Asset Management GmbH lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 52.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 165,145 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 179,708 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $19,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $143.9640 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $140.43 and a 200 day moving average of $128.83. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.09 and a 1 year high of $149.08.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

About Morgan Stanley

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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