Achmea Investment Management B.V. Buys Shares of 142,018 Morgan Stanley (MS)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 142,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,084,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Invictus RG purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $106,000. FTB Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the first quarter. FTB Advisors Inc. now owns 2,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $120,000. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the first quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 2,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan Co. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.0% in the first quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 4,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.47% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley (MS) traded down 0.90% on Wednesday, reaching $46.01. 8,350,802 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. The stock has a market cap of $84.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 1.63. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $30.12 and a 12-month high of $48.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.44.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 16.77% and a return on equity of 9.83%. The firm had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post $3.50 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 28th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 27th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.65%.

TRADEMARK VIOLATION WARNING: “[[title]]” was originally reported by [[site]] and is owned by of [[site]]. If you are viewing this article on another publication, it was stolen and republished in violation of US and international trademark and copyright laws. The correct version of this article can be viewed at [[permalink]].

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 18th. Rafferty Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, April 22nd. J P Morgan Chase & Co reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, May 23rd. Instinet reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target (down previously from $51.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, June 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.02.

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 212,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.26, for a total transaction of $10,036,417.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,602,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,739,301.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jonathan Pruzan sold 25,767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $1,202,803.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 196,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,182,329.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a financial holding company. The Company’s segments include Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management. The Company’s Institutional Securities business segment provides investment banking, sales and trading, and other services to corporations, governments, financial institutions and high-to-ultra high net worth clients.