Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $12.62 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 18.4% during the first quarter, owning 108,185 shares worth approximately $12.62 million after selling 24,326 shares.
• Insiders at Morgan Stanley sold 188,949 shares worth over $25.7 million in the last ninety days, with CFO Sharon Yeshaya selling 25,583 shares for about $3.58 million.
• Morgan Stanley recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, up from $0.93, with a new annualized dividend of $4.00 and a yield of 2.80%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 18.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 108,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 24,326 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $262,000. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $234,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 64,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,116,000 after buying an additional 10,056 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 455,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,319,000 after purchasing an additional 33,819 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $144.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,096,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,840,910. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $135.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.98. 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 company has a market capitalization of $231.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $145.19.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.90%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Finally, 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 188,949 shares of company stock valued at $25,737,084 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.