Highland Capital Management LLC Has $5.33 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,364 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,561 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $139.38. The stock had a trading volume of 2,998,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,511,236. The firm has a market cap of $224.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.67. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $141.48. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.27.

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.