Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Sells 25,903 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 27.2%, selling 25,903 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 69,313 shares valued at approximately $8.1 million.
• Several large institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have increased their stakes in Morgan Stanley, indicating positive sentiment among major investors.
• Morgan Stanley recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, a notable increase from the previous dividend of $0.93, demonstrating the company's strong financial performance.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 27.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,313 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,903 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings 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. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. 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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,112,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,774,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,403,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,685,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,233,589 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $147.26 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $138.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.57. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.09 and a 1 year high of $148.23. The company has a market capitalization of $235.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 2.7%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 45.30%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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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