UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in Q1, owning approximately 0.05% of the company valued at $96,472,000 after acquiring an additional 4,657 shares.
• Several analysts upgraded their ratings on Morgan Stanley, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising their target price from $127.00 to $160.00, reflecting an optimistic outlook on the stock.
• Morgan Stanley's board approved a stock buyback program allowing the firm to repurchase up to $20 billion in shares, indicating confidence in the stock's undervaluation.

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 826,882 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,657 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 0.7% of UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.05% of Morgan Stanley worth $96,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Omnia Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,144,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 5,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. The trade was a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS traded up $1.94 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $154.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,944,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,490,256. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $144.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.96. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $154.53. 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 firm has a market cap of $246.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.33.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm 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 a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

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

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.