Nordea Investment Management AB Acquires 3,583 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 912,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,583 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $127,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,265,000 after buying an additional 117,615 shares in the last quarter. Tlwm lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.54.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $158.70 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $166.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

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.