Swedbank AB Purchases 58,262 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Swedbank AB increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 889,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,262 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $125,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 426.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 118,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,954,000 after acquiring an additional 96,347 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $2,024,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 23,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,980,000 after buying an additional 2,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $159.28 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $160.14. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.92.

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.