YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $136.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $220.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $129.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.04. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $139.04. 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 (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.