On May 25, 2023 at 14:49:25 ET an unusually large $981.50K block of Put contracts in Morgan Stanley (MS) was sold, with a strike price of $97.50 / share, expiring in 22 day(s) (on June 16, 2023). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 1.27 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 88.58th percentile of all recent large trades made in MS options.

This trade was first picked up on Fintel’s real time Options Flow tool, where unusual option trades are highlighted.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 3029 funds or institutions reporting positions in Morgan Stanley. This is an increase of 122 owner(s) or 4.20% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to MS is 0.45%, an increase of 8.51%. Total shares owned by institutions increased in the last three months by 0.09% to 1,633,723K shares. The put/call ratio of MS is 1.17, indicating a bearish outlook.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 23.03% Upside

As of May 11, 2023, the average one-year price target for Morgan Stanley is 99.92. The forecasts range from a low of 80.80 to a high of $117.60. The average price target represents an increase of 23.03% from its latest reported closing price of 81.22.

See our leaderboard of companies with the largest price target upside.

The projected annual revenue for Morgan Stanley is 57,800MM, an increase of 9.21%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is 7.69.

What are Other Shareholders Doing?

Mitsubishi Ufj Financial Group holds 377,085K shares representing 22.58% ownership of the company. No change in the last quarter.

Jpmorgan Chase holds 48,285K shares representing 2.89% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 45,549K shares, representing an increase of 5.67%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MS by 1.16% over the last quarter.

Wellington Management Group Llp holds 46,907K shares representing 2.81% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 45,994K shares, representing an increase of 1.95%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in MS by 4.09% over the last quarter.

VTSMX – Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 38,535K shares representing 2.31% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 38,422K shares, representing an increase of 0.29%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in MS by 0.34% over the last quarter.

VFINX – Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares holds 30,475K shares representing 1.82% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 30,358K shares, representing an increase of 0.39%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in MS by 0.48% over the last quarter.

Morgan Stanley Declares $0.78 Dividend

On April 19, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share ($3.10 annualized). Shareholders of record as of May 1, 2023 received the payment on May 15, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.78 per share.

At the current share price of $81.22 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 3.82%.

Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 2.87%, the lowest has been 1.50%, and the highest has been 5.03%. The standard deviation of yields is 0.61 (n=237).

The current dividend yield is 1.55 standard deviations above the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 0.50. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company’s 3-Year dividend growth rate is 1.21%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

Morgan Stanley Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals.

Key filings for this company:

• Fourth1, 2

This article originally appeared on Fintel

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.