Kennedy Investment Group Acquires New Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• The Kennedy Investment Group acquired 1,682 new shares of Morgan Stanley, valued at approximately $237,000, in the second quarter.
• Recent insider transactions included Daniel A. Simkowitz and Eric F. Grossman selling a total of 41,000 shares for over $5.7 million, indicating a decrease in their ownership of the stock.
• Morgan Stanley's board has initiated a $20 billion stock repurchase program, signaling confidence in the company's valuation, alongside a recent increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share.

Kennedy Investment Group acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,682 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $343,236,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $139.92.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.7%

MS stock opened at $157.97 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $252.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $147.93 and a 200-day moving average of $132.31. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

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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