KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $60.80 Million in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 483,589 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $60,797,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, 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 owned by company insiders.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS traded down $3.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $122.17. 5,081,832 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,225,656. The company has a market capitalization of $197.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.