DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Grows Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 692,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 105,095 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $78,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $141.15 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $145.16. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.37. The company has a market capitalization of $226.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.54.

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.