Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 484,479 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 44,456 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $60,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents 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 Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $2.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.60. 6,701,387 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,566,525. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company's 50 day moving average price is $132.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.50. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.27.

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.