Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 33.9%, acquiring an additional 108,960 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately $50 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.13 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts’ estimates of $1.98, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 11.8%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, reflecting a 2.8% yield, which marks an increase from its previous dividend of $0.93.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 33.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 430,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 108,960 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $50,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 note on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $3.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $147.26. 7,111,360 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,362,470. The company has a market capitalization of $235.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.09 and a 52-week high of $148.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $138.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.57.

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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

About Morgan Stanley

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.