Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,551 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,234,883,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $343,236,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.4% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,318,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776,544 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $174.68 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $165.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.25. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $181.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. Equities analysts predict 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, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.77.

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.