Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 61,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,088,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.6%

MS opened at $221.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $348.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $135.26 and a one year high of $230.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $202.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MS. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.50.

More Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley announced a new $20 billion stock buyback authorization and raised its quarterly dividend, reinforcing confidence in balance-sheet strength and future cash generation.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lifted its price target on Morgan Stanley to $225, suggesting modest upside from current levels and helping support investor sentiment.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also received a tenth consecutive “Outstanding” rating from the OCC for community reinvestment activities, a reputational plus for the banking franchise.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles noted broad banker strength after the Fed stress test, which could provide a favorable backdrop for Morgan Stanley and peers through dividend and buyback expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s private-credit fund withdrawal caps, but that appears more like a sector liquidity issue than a direct operating setback for MS today.
• Negative Sentiment: Some private-credit headlines may keep pressure on financials with alternatives exposure, as investors worry about redemption risk and liquidity conditions across the sector.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.