Blueprint Investment Partners LLC Has $606,000 Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Blueprint Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 50.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,609 shares during the quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,971,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.3% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 18,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,901,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.3% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 179,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,672,000 after acquiring an additional 9,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 50,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,238,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MS opened at $120.26 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $130.55 and its 200 day moving average is $122.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the 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 owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MS shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.60.

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.