KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $70.02 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 497,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,100 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $70,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,610,881,000 after purchasing an additional 403,956 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,337,000 after purchasing an additional 219,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,126,205,000 after purchasing an additional 442,617 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 186,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.92.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $158.12 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market cap of $252.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.91, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

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.