Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. sold 19,220 shares of Morgan Stanley, reducing its holdings by 2.2%, leaving it with approximately 839,997 shares valued at $97.85 million.
• Insiders also sold significant amounts of stock, with Charles A. Smith selling 20,000 shares and Michael A. Pizzi selling 18,000 shares, reflecting declines of 14.36% and 11.66% in their respective positions.
• Morgan Stanley announced a share buyback plan of $20 billion and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, up from $0.93, which highlights management's confidence in the company's valuation.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 839,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,220 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.05% of Morgan Stanley worth $97,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 7,969 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,935 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 727,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,448,000 after acquiring an additional 31,963 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.7%

NYSE:MS traded down $3.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $144.55. 4,985,473 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,919,660. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.76. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $149.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a market capitalization of $230.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by 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.