Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Key Points

• Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 53.3%, purchasing an additional 27,100 shares, bringing its total to 77,943 shares valued at approximately $10.97 million.
• Morgan Stanley recently announced a quarterly dividend payment of $1.00 per share, up from the previous $0.93, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 2.5%.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Morgan Stanley, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increasing theirs from $127.00 to $160.00 following positive quarterly earnings reports.

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 53.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 27,100 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,974,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after buying an additional 2,728,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $343,236,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3%

MS stock traded up $0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $159.68. 14,899,195 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,623,391. The company has a 50-day moving average of $146.84 and a 200-day moving average of $131.55. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $161.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $139.92.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.