Fox Run Management L.L.C. Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Fox Run Management initiated a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter, buying 11,913 shares valued at about $2.1 million. Morgan Stanley is now its 24th largest holding.
• Morgan Stanley reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.43 versus $3.02 expected and revenue of $20.58 billion versus $19.23 billion expected. Revenue rose 16% year over year.
• The company recently paid a $1.00 quarterly dividend ($4.00 annualized), while analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $205.95.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,913 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,115,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 0.3% of Fox Run Management L.L.C.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 171,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,469,000 after acquiring an additional 24,379 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 275,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,947,000 after acquiring an additional 23,193 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 289,314 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,362,000 after acquiring an additional 16,141 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 8,445 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $212.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $334.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $128.81 and a one year high of $219.16. The company's fifty day moving average price is $189.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.55.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s top market strategist said the recent tech selloff looks like a healthy reset, with improving earnings and the economic backdrop still supportive for stocks. Why tech’s record pullback is just a ‘healthy reset’ for the bull market, according to Morgan Stanley’s top stock-market strategist
• Positive Sentiment: Related market coverage suggests investors are rotating back into stocks after the prior tech-led pullback, which can support large diversified financials like MS.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several news items mention Morgan Stanley conference activity and analyst work, but they appear to be industry-context items rather than direct catalysts for Morgan Stanley’s own fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: No major Morgan Stanley earnings, guidance, or capital-return announcement was included in the latest batch of articles.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.95.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley NYSE: MS is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company's chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm's primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.

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