Forsta AP Fonden Sells 31,200 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.0% during the first quarter, leaving it with 281,963 shares valued at approximately $32.9 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Morgan Stanley, with Vanguard Group Inc. boosting its holdings by 6.9% and Capital Research Global Investors raising its stake by 44.8%.
• Morgan Stanley recently announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend, increasing its annual payout from $3.72 to $4.00, representing a yield of 2.8%.

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 281,963 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,200 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $32,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 12,016 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,402,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 125.3% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,171,928 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $136,710,000 after buying an additional 651,750 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 6,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 1,422 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,153,343 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $251,231,000 after buying an additional 228,039 shares during the period. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 2,147 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $3.49 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $147.37. 3,571,074 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,728,708. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $148.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company's 50 day moving average is $138.55 and its 200 day moving average is $128.44.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Profile

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.