Human Investing LLC Takes $74,000 Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $74,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NTV Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $213,000. KLCM Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 9,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,451,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 18,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $64,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $139.19 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $224.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.41 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.