Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Bought by Sarasin & Partners LLP

by · The Cerbat Gem

Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 367,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,718 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $51,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kearns & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $211,000. Channel Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Sunpointe LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 2,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $155.89 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $145.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.84. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $158.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 45.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.92.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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