Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 65,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,124 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 108.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 4,372 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 4,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the period. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 257.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Enterprises LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. 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 report on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $136.69.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $142.25 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $145.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.70.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.