Lbp Am Sa Has $9.36 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Lbp Am Sa reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 23.3%, owning 66,449 shares valued at approximately $9.36 million after selling 20,233 shares in the second quarter.
• Morgan Stanley reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.13 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenue also surpassing estimates at $16.79 billion.
• The company announced a stock buyback plan of up to $20 billion and a dividend increase to $1.00 per share, signaling confidence in its stock's valuation.

Lbp Am Sa trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 23.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,449 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 20,233 shares during the period. Lbp Am Sa's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares during the period. Tlwm boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 26,763 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.2%

MS stock opened at $157.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $250.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.90. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 2.5%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of 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 report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.25.

Morgan Stanley 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.

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