Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.7%, selling 127,165 shares, which now values their total holding at approximately $123.7 million.
• Morgan Stanley has reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.13, exceeding expectations, and announced a share buyback program of up to $20 billion.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.79%.

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,060,619 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 127,165 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Morgan Stanley worth $123,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,144,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 5,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobsen Capital Management boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the first quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 2,212 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. The trade was a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 188,949 shares of company stock worth $25,737,084. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $2.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $142.46. 5,522,960 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,323,620. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $136.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.23. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $145.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

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.