Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 23rd, 2023

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,258,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,973,640,000 after buying an additional 97,672 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,315,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,695,930,000 after acquiring an additional 314,567 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,632,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,284,691,000 after purchasing an additional 481,665 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $956,566,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,737,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $912,886,000 after buying an additional 379,286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.41, for a total value of $517,496.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 136,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,615,166.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.41, for a total transaction of $517,496.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 136,513 shares in the company, valued at $12,615,166.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Stanley Morgan sold 1,049,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total transaction of $9,921,451.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,456,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,917,525.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,418,989 shares of company stock worth $44,556,447. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $83.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $137.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.65 and a 200-day moving average of $88.45. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $74.67 and a one year high of $100.99.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.02 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 12.19%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 30th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 59.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $91.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Atlantic Securities upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.06.

View Our Latest Report on MS

About Morgan Stanley

(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.