AGF Management Ltd. Increases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 55.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 117,615 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $38,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 33.9% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 430,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,262,000 after buying an additional 108,960 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 18,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,176,000 after buying an additional 6,204 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 11,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,318,000 after buying an additional 2,240 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 9,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $143.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $229.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $93.54 and a 52-week high of $145.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.44.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.25.

About Morgan Stanley

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.