AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 37.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,118 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after buying an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,610,881,000 after acquiring an additional 403,956 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,337,000 after acquiring an additional 219,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,126,205,000 after acquiring an additional 442,617 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $165.91 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $166.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market cap of $264.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $155.11 and a 200-day moving average of $139.71.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

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.