AMF Tjanstepension AB Sells 36,639 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

AMF Tjanstepension AB decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 686,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,639 shares during the quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $64,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $958,105,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $512,867,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,499,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,284,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,094,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $659,251,000 after buying an additional 1,195,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. Cfra raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS traded up $1.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $97.21. The stock had a trading volume of 9,056,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,642,376. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $96.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.71. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $103.25. The firm has a market cap of $157.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. Corporate insiders own 0.24% 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.