Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,972 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,400,000 after purchasing an additional 42,743 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 499,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,804,000 after acquiring an additional 14,283 shares during the period. Pamalican Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,513,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,686,000. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 112.0% during the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,019,000 after acquiring an additional 21,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $131.92. 4,258,657 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,683,754. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $120.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $211.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by 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.