Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,069,267 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 167,918 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Morgan Stanley worth $474,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 11,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,314,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,272 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 19,108 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,229,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.3% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 330,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,597,000 after buying an additional 86,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novem Group lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 31.9% in the first quarter. Novem Group now owns 2,645 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of MS traded up $1.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $144.50. 3,974,691 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,680,902. The stock has a market cap of $231.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50-day moving average is $129.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.05. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $144.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Eleven equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.62.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.