Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,426 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,426 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS traded down $0.30 on Friday, reaching $127.86. 1,685,206 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,680,753. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $117.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.44. The stock has a market cap of $205.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.