MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Has $18.42 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH has significantly increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 594.6%, bringing its total holdings to $18.42 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Other institutional investors have also increased their positions, with notable boosts from Vanguard Group Inc. (+6.9%) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (+21.2%).
• Morgan Stanley has announced a $20 billion share repurchase program and recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00 per share, reflecting a 2.5% yield.

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 594.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,757 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 111,932 shares during the quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $13,740,149,000 after buying an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $343,236,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $139.92.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $157.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market cap 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's fifty day moving average is $147.93 and its 200 day moving average is $132.31. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $163.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. 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 of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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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