Norges Bank Invests $1.91 Billion in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 15,194,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,910,200,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.94% of Morgan Stanley at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $122.17 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.50. The firm has a market cap of $197.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.