Hurley Capital LLC Buys New Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. 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 portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Payden & Rygel raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 39.5% during the fourth quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 183,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,070,000 after purchasing an additional 52,000 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 97.7% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 120,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,200,000 after buying an additional 15,142 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,287,000. Finally, Pamalican Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,513,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their price target 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, March 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 7.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $99.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.01 and a 1 year 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $127.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its 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 company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value 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 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 corporate insiders.

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.