Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Acquires New Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 85,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,791,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $469,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $91,164,000. Blue Edge Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $200,000. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,011,000. Finally, Pointe Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $275,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1%

MS opened at $214.69 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $216.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $145.65 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwinds support the outlook: Zacks identified Morgan Stanley among investment banks positioned to benefit from increased technology spending, active trading, and stronger underwriting and advisory activity. These trends could support revenue growth across wealth management and institutional securities. 3 Investment Bank Stocks Set to Benefit From Industry Tailwinds
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings momentum remains a fundamental support: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results showed adjusted earnings per share of $3.46, well above the $2.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. However, these results were released earlier and do not represent a fresh trading catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment-banking activity remains visible: Morgan Stanley was listed among institutional buyers in recent Indian transactions involving Purple Style Labs and Lenskart. These deals may generate advisory or underwriting revenue, but the announcements do not appear material enough to directly affect MS shares. Purple Style Raises Funds Ahead of IPO

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. HSBC increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.75.

About Morgan Stanley

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.