Tredje AP fonden Acquires 74,600 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Tredje AP fonden boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,217,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,600 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.1% of Tredje AP fonden’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $118,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 328.0% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 11,295 shares during the last quarter. Associated Banc Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 2,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $234,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 77,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,204,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on MS shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $99.88 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $100.49 and its 200-day moving average is $96.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.