Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Has $44.31 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 438.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 379,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 309,286 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $44,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.9%

MS stock opened at $148.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $142.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.10. 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 current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. 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 is presently 45.30%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the 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 directly owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.25.

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.