Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Purchases 31,200 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 271,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,200 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $26,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,846,000 after buying an additional 27,845 shares during the last quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after purchasing an additional 48,812 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,987,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,337,000 after purchasing an additional 9,260 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 247.2% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 15,903 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,059,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,787,000 after purchasing an additional 23,991 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $102.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $166.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $100.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.73. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

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.