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

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $513,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,971,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 168,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 20,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 report on Wednesday. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $119.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $193.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.71.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.