Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 322.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,143 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,981 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.
MS opened at $110.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $111.47. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $101.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.52. The firm has a market cap of $179.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 60.96%.
Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.06.
Check Out Our Latest Report on 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.
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