Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Purchases 6,981 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 322.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,981 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $30,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The trade was a 0.00 % 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. In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $110.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $179.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $111.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $101.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.06.

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.