AMF Tjanstepension AB Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

AMF Tjanstepension AB cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 739,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 40,270 shares during the quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $63,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,801,000 after purchasing an additional 22,095 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 61.9% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 64.5% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 6,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 66.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 83.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MS. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Odeon Capital Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Atlantic Securities raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.22.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $88.07 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.94. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $74.67 and a 52 week high of $100.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a market cap of $145.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The firm had revenue of $13.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 59.96%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, June 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 13,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total transaction of $1,242,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,634,528. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $11,543,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,136,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,941,460.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total transaction of $1,242,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,634,528. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 369,100 shares of company stock valued at $34,634,996 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.