State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $19.55 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• The State of Alaska Department of Revenue holds shares in Morgan Stanley worth $19.55 million, having reduced its stake by 4.3% in the second quarter of the year.
• Morgan Stanley recently reported earnings of $2.13 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and has announced a $20 billion stock buyback plan.
• The firm raised its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00, reflecting confidence in its financial performance and providing a dividend yield of 2.5%.

State of Alaska Department of Revenue trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 138,824 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,175 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $19,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $343,236,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the 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 owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $160.13 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $148.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.96. The firm has a market cap of $255.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $163.98.

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. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. One 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, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $142.00.

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.

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