Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 0.1% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of MS stock traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $90.83. 5,859,814 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,641,185. The stock has a market cap of $147.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.68. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.