Team Hewins LLC Acquires Shares of 10,718 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Team Hewins LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 10,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $999,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after buying an additional 517,446 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,883,392,000 after buying an additional 575,114 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,070,528,000 after buying an additional 277,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $958,105,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Cfra increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of MS traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $98.92. 5,578,128 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,138,761. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $103.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $93.35 and its 200-day moving average is $88.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.