Blueprint Investment Partners LLC Acquires 1,609 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,971,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 18,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,901,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 179,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,672,000 after buying an additional 9,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $120.26 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.97. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap 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. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The company 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%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of 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 currently 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.