Achmea Investment Management B.V. Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,477 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $111.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $179.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.14. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley 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.