Morgan Stanley $MS Stake Raised by UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC

Key Points

• UBS AM has increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8%, now owning approximately 9.65 million shares worth about $1.13 billion.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have significantly boosted their positions in Morgan Stanley, reflecting strong overall interest in the financial services firm.
• Morgan Stanley recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, representing a yearly total of $4.00 and indicating a 2.7% dividend yield.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 442,617 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned about 0.60% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,126,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 114.4% in the 4th quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 2,388 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 19,003 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,494 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 174,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,280,000 after purchasing an additional 99,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 29,315 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,685,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $0.01 on Friday, hitting $156.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,341,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,483,144. The stock's 50-day moving average is $145.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.31. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $157.76. The company has a market capitalization of $249.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

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.