Point72 Europe London LLP Invests $2.36 Million in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Point72 Europe London LLP has invested $2.36 million in Morgan Stanley, acquiring 20,200 shares in the first quarter.
• Morgan Stanley reported $2.13 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share.
• Several large institutions, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have significantly increased their stakes in Morgan Stanley, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,357,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS traded up $1.90 on Thursday, reaching $150.43. The company had a trading volume of 3,953,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,518,976. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $240.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $150.75. The company's fifty day moving average is $143.85 and its 200 day moving average is $129.66.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.