31,498 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by Zions Bancorporation National Association UT

Key Points

• Zions Bancorporation National Association has invested $3.68 million in Morgan Stanley by purchasing 31,498 shares during the first quarter.
• Insiders at Morgan Stanley, including Andrew M. Saperstein, have sold significant amounts of stock, with Saperstein alone selling 43,566 shares for over $6 million.
• Morgan Stanley has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00, with the dividend yield currently standing at 2.8%.

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 31,498 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 26,763 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,400,000 after acquiring an additional 42,743 shares during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 112.0% during the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,019,000 after acquiring an additional 21,090 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 503,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,699,000 after acquiring an additional 11,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 386.2% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 24,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,877,000 after acquiring an additional 19,586 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded up $3.38 on Tuesday, hitting $147.26. The stock had a trading volume of 7,111,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,753,181. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.09 and a 52-week high of $148.23. 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 capitalization of $235.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $138.55 and a 200-day moving average of $128.44.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The company 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at $17,988,234.22. The trade was a 16.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.