Pzena Investment Management LLC Acquires 14,190 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 763,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,190 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $89,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 30,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,568,000 after acquiring an additional 7,098 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 63.0% during the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 34,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,997,000 after buying an additional 13,238 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,804 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $910,000 after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 68.1% during the 1st quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 21,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,466,000 after buying an additional 8,561 shares during the period. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,634 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,707,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.69.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $140.80. 5,572,318 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,614,930. The company has a market cap of $225.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.11. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $145.16.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 188,949 shares of company stock worth $25,737,084. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.