WCG Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,249,000.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% during the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, High Note Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley
In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.
Morgan Stanley News Roundup
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named a lead underwriter for Anthropic’s IPO, reinforcing its position in major capital-markets mandates. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Land Anthropic IPO
- Positive Sentiment: The firm also expanded its wealth-management/crypto offering through a referral arrangement with Galaxy Digital, which could support longer-term client engagement and product breadth. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Galaxy Digital Announce Referral Capability for In-Kind Creation of Spot Crypto ETP Shares
- Positive Sentiment: Management continues to see strong opportunities in selected financials names, including a recent positive stance on peers such as UnitedHealth and other coverage names, underscoring active analyst engagement across the franchise. UnitedHealth Positioned As AI Leader: Analyst
- Neutral Sentiment: Media attention around Morgan Stanley’s bullish SpaceX revenue outlook and related IPO coverage keeps the firm in the spotlight, but this is more of a longer-dated franchise story than an immediate earnings driver. Market Chatter: Morgan Stanley Projects SpaceX’s Revenue Reaching $3.4 Trillion in 2040
Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.7%
Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $212.44 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.05. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $128.81 and a 52-week high of $219.16. The firm has a market cap of $335.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Dbs Bank increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.95.
View Our Latest Research Report on Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley Profile
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.
The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.
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