Harfst & Associates Inc. Has $1.84 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Harfst & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 131.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,417 shares during the quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.1% during the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 106.8% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Brucke Financial Inc. now owns 1,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 23,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $168.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $267.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $160.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.38. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $171.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Dbs Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

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.