Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Acquires 50,000 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $29,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $99.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $127.06 and a 200-day moving average of $124.08. The company has a market cap of $160.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, 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 company insiders.

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.