Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Hartford Funds Management Co LLC

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises about 0.1% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $477,765,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $223,596,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,015,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,929,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 229.0% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,215,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,369,000 after purchasing an additional 846,266 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Cfra upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.4 %

MS traded down $1.28 on Tuesday, reaching $90.83. 5,859,814 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,641,185. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company’s 50 day moving average is $89.90 and its 200-day moving average is $85.68. The company has a market cap of $147.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.