Woodline Partners LP Buys 30,044 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 40.3%, acquiring an additional 30,044 shares, bringing its total holdings to 104,541 shares worth approximately $12.2 million.
• Insider transactions have involved significant sales, including Charles A. Smith selling 20,000 shares for $2.8 million, reflecting a decrease of 14.36% in his position.
• Morgan Stanley recently authorized a $20 billion share buyback program, indicating the Board's belief that the company shares are undervalued, alongside announcing an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share.

Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 40.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 30,044 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.21 on Monday, reaching $156.60. 4,829,891 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,473,698. The company has a 50 day moving average of $145.30 and a 200 day moving average of $130.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $158.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 1.94 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 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share 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 issued a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors 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.