K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 34,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 7,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $369,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 10,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 539,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,034,000 after acquiring an additional 12,897 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $92.83. 4,590,320 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,727,548. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.68 and a 200-day moving average of $85.40.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

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.