Hurley Capital LLC Purchases New Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 23,456 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,955,000. Morgan Stanley comprises 2.4% of Hurley Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MS. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $4.80 during trading on Thursday, reaching $106.90. 5,760,260 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,785,369. The business's fifty day moving average is $123.71 and its 200-day moving average is $124.22. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.