First Manhattan CO. LLC. Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC significantly increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 277.8% during the first quarter, owning 185,651 shares valued at approximately $21.66 million.
• Morgan Stanley announced a $20 billion share buyback program, indicating the management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, marking an increase from the previous dividend of $0.93, with a 2.7% annualized yield.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 277.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,651 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 136,507 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $21,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC now owns 35,452 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,136,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $100,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 5,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 88,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,340,000 after buying an additional 12,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $2,357,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $1.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $150.43. 3,953,889 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,518,976. The company has a market cap of $240.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.33. 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 has a 52-week low of $94.09 and a 52-week high of $150.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.66.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

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.