HUB Investment Partners LLC Acquires 3,311 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,311 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for 0.9% of HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $22,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $513,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,971,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 168,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,600,000 after buying an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 20,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $119.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $130.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.71.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.