Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 110,182 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden boosted its Morgan Stanley stake by 59.2% in the first quarter, buying 110,182 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 296,215 shares worth about $48.7 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.43 versus $3.02 expected and revenue of $20.58 billion versus $19.23 billion expected, while revenue rose 16% year over year.
• The company also unveiled a $20 billion share buyback and paid a $1.00 quarterly dividend, signaling continued capital returns to shareholders.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 59.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 296,215 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 110,182 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $48,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 69.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,263,000 after buying an additional 3,661 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 90.9% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,378,000 after buying an additional 7,688 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,127,000 after buying an additional 15,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the second quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley secured conditional OCC approval for a trust charter, moving it closer to offering a federally supervised digital-asset trust and strengthening its long-term crypto custody strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary from market outlets highlighted Morgan Stanley’s favorable stance on traditional asset managers and bank stocks, which can support sentiment toward MS’s wealth-management and capital-markets model.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor articles also noted Morgan Stanley’s recently announced dividend hike and $20 billion buyback, reinforcing capital-return support for the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent posts discussed Morgan Stanley research on other companies, including price-target changes on stocks like American Airlines, Edison International, and Dominion Energy; these are informative but not direct catalysts for MS.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1%

MS opened at $214.27 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $135.26 and a fifty-two week high of $230.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50-day moving average is $204.86 and its 200 day moving average is $185.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $210.50.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.

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