APG Asset Management N.V. Purchases 95,000 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

APG Asset Management N.V. grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 163.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 152,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 95,000 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $13,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $104.11 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.36. The firm has a market cap of $169.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Profile

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.