Truist Financial Corp Sells 3,482 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6%, selling 3,482 shares, bringing its total holdings to 599,415 shares valued at approximately $84.43 million.
• Morgan Stanley announced a $20 billion share buyback program and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00, representing a yield of 2.5%.
• In its most recent earnings report, Morgan Stanley surpassed expectations with $2.13 earnings per share and $16.79 billion in revenue, marking an 11.8% year-over-year increase.

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 599,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,482 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $84,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,740,149,000 after buying an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in 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. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,610,881,000 after purchasing an additional 403,956 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,523,337,000 after purchasing an additional 219,729 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,126,205,000 after purchasing an additional 442,617 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $157.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $250.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.90. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week 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 the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.25.

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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