Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 21,063 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the first quarter, holding 520,617 shares valued at approximately $60.74 million.
• Insider transactions revealed significant sales, with two insiders selling over 38,000 shares on July 17th, resulting in decreases of approximately 11.66% and 14.36% in their ownership.
• Morgan Stanley announced a $20 billion share buyback plan and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00, reflecting confidence that its shares are undervalued.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 520,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,063 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $60,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,731,000 after buying an additional 2,453,470 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,403,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,685,050,000 after buying an additional 2,233,589 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 188,949 shares of company stock valued at $25,737,084. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $1.19 on Wednesday, hitting $144.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,518,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,844,313. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock's 50 day moving average is $135.89 and its 200-day moving average is $127.98. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $145.19. The company has a market capitalization of $232.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 15.33%. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.90%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.