Groupama Asset Managment Has $31.55 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 273,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,196 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first 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 period. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 5,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was 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 directly owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Nine investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MS stock opened at $144.87 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.09 and a 52-week high of $149.08. 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 50-day simple moving average of $140.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.73. The company has a market capitalization of $231.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

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.