Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Raises Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 60.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 999 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NBW Capital LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 3,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Excalibur Management Corp boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MS. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Cfra lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.18.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE MS traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $90.26. The company had a trading volume of 519,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,828,367. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.73 and a 200 day moving average of $84.81. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

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.