Hartline Investment Corp Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hartline Investment Corp raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,159,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,074,718,000 after purchasing an additional 415,531 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,070,528,000 after purchasing an additional 277,909 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,082,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,067,000 after purchasing an additional 483,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,672,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,913,000 after purchasing an additional 766,530 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $93.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,099,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,804,559. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $89.22 and a 200 day moving average of $85.20. The company has a market capitalization of $152.66 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.43. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MS shares. Cfra lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.