Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Has $3.53 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after purchasing an additional 569,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $123.41 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $128.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.42. The company has a market capitalization of $198.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.80.

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.