TCW Group Inc. Reduces Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.4%, selling 58,620 shares, and its remaining holdings are valued at $74.74 million.
• Insider trading reports show significant sales from executives, including Andrew M. Saperstein and Daniel A. Simkowitz, who sold shares totaling over $10 million combined.
• Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share, reflecting a commitment to shareholder returns with an annual yield of 2.80%.

TCW Group Inc. reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 640,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 58,620 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $74,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.2% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 520,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21,063 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 20.1% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.3% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 44,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,232,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Allium Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, Motco lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.4% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 2,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 188,949 shares of company stock valued at $25,737,084. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Monday, hitting $142.46. The company had a trading volume of 3,729,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,602,143. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock's 50-day moving average is $135.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $145.16.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.90%.

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

Morgan Stanley Company 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.