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

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 220.6% in the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $92.83. 4,590,320 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,727,548. 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 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,355 shares of company stock valued at $22,356,602 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on MS shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

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.