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

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm 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.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $136.63 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a market capitalization of $220.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.04. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $139.04.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.