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Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Buys 27,525 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

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Key Points

  • Liontrust Investment Partners LLP has increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 37.2%, acquiring 27,525 additional shares during the first quarter, bringing their total holdings to 101,580 shares valued at approximately $11.85 million.
  • Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share, up from $0.93, representing an annualized payout of $4.00 and a yield of 2.7%.
  • Several large investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have also significantly increased their holdings in Morgan Stanley, reflecting strong institutional interest in the company's stock.
  • Want stock alerts on Morgan Stanley? Get 5 Weeks of MarketBeat All Access for $5. Get My Stock Alerts.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 37.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,580 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,525 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% 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 worth $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $3.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $144.55. The stock had a trading volume of 4,985,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,890,343. 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 has a twelve month low of $94.09 and a twelve month high of $149.08. The company's 50 day moving average price is $139.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.68. The firm has a market cap of $230.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The company 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%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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 paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Get Our Latest Research Report on MS

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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