Hartline Investment Corp Has $7 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hartline Investment Corp raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 107.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,829 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 0.9% of Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MS. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $132.31 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $110.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $74.55 and a 12 month high of $133.99.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.