Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Buys New Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. has made a new investment in Morgan Stanley, acquiring 3,100 shares valued at approximately $362,000.
• Morgan Stanley recently announced a $20 billion stock buyback plan, indicating that the board believes its shares are undervalued.
• The company declared an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, up from the previous $0.93, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.5% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 1,890,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,403,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,685,050,000 after acquiring an additional 2,233,589 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider 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. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MS. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock traded up $3.38 on Tuesday, hitting $147.26. 7,111,360 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,362,470. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.09 and a 1-year high of $148.23. The stock has a market cap of $235.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $138.92 and a 200-day moving average of $128.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

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.