SouthState Corp Acquires 11,557 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• SouthState Corp has increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 63.0%, acquiring an additional 11,557 shares, which brings its total shares to 29,911, valued at approximately $3.49 million.
• Morgan Stanley's board recently authorized a $20 billion share buyback program, signaling that the board believes the stock may be undervalued.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.93 to $1.00 per share, reflecting confidence in its financial stability with a dividend yield of 2.8%.

SouthState Corp raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 63.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,911 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,557 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5%

MS traded up $0.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $148.43. 2,321,096 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,715,966. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.09 and a 12 month high of $149.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock's 50-day moving average is $139.31 and its 200 day moving average is $128.71.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

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.