Hartline Investment Corp Buys 285 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hartline Investment Corp raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $56,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $112,000. South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $401,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $830,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 65.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 10,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 4,230 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Twelve research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other 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 transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.85. The stock had a trading volume of 5,099,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,804,559. 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 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The firm has a market cap of $152.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.22 and a 200 day moving average of $85.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

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.