Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 228.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,926 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,820 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $597,000. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.0% during the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 77,420 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,070,000 after purchasing an additional 5,738 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America increased 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.98 on Tuesday, hitting $125.25. 4,326,021 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,221,122. The firm has a market cap of $202.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $130.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.31. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.