Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $15.30 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.7%, holding a total of $15.30 million in shares by the end of the 1st quarter.
• Analysts have favorable outlooks on Morgan Stanley, with ratings upgraded to "strong-buy" and price targets exceeding $136, reflecting increased investor confidence.
• Morgan Stanley recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, representing a 2.7% yield, and authorized a significant share repurchase plan of $20 billion.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 131,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,657 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $15,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $147.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $235.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $149.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.96.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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