Harvest Investment Advisors LLC Takes $3.08 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Harvest Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 17,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,083,000. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.7% of Harvest Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Argus lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Dbs Bank lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $220.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $348.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $195.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $129.66 and a 1 year high of $222.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley said the bull market remains intact and could broaden further as investors rotate into cyclical sectors. The ‘Bull Market Is Intact,’ Says Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also highlighted stocks that can keep the rally going, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s influence on market positioning and investor sentiment. These stocks have been beating the S&P 500 and could keep the bull market going, says Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was also in the news for stock-specific research calls, including upgrades and target hikes on names tied to AI infrastructure, data storage, and industrials, which reflects active and influential equity research coverage. Morgan Stanley (MS) Pounds the Table on These Data Storage Names

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.