Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 34,800 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,800 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after acquiring an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after acquiring an additional 117,615 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 26,763 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $147.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $235.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $139.31 and its 200-day moving average is $128.71. 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 has a 52 week low of $94.09 and a 52 week high of $149.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. This trade represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% 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.