Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Voya Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.8%, selling 458,056 shares and owning approximately 0.24% of the company, valued at $442.45 million.
• Several major investors have increased their stakes in Morgan Stanley, with Vanguard Group raising its ownership by 6.9% and Goldman Sachs increasing theirs by 21.2% during the first quarter.
• Morgan Stanley recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00, up from $0.93, along with announcing a $20 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in their stock's valuation.

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,792,336 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 458,056 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.24% of Morgan Stanley worth $442,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,265,000 after acquiring an additional 117,615 shares during the period. Tlwm boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. One investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at $17,988,234.22. This trade represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:MS traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $156.47. The stock had a trading volume of 4,341,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,343,304. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. 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 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $157.76. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $145.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%.Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in 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 typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley 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.