Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 484,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,456 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $60,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $2,829,000. Legacy Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $361,000. Lyell Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 96,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,107,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $140.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $226.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $132.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.40. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $84.43 and a 52-week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.