Fifth Third Bancorp Has $213.14 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,513,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,306 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.09% of Morgan Stanley worth $213,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,265,000 after acquiring an additional 117,615 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the first 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. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0%

MS stock opened at $160.76 on Wednesday. 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 $163.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $147.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change 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 currently 45.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the 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 owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock 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. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.92.

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.