OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp trimmed its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,661 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 90.9% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,688 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,127,000 after acquiring an additional 15,623 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,807 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Argus lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.35.
Morgan Stanley Stock Performance
NYSE:MS opened at $217.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $343.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $129.66 and a 1-year high of $220.60.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.
Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley
Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: CEO Ted Pick highlighted a potential $10 trillion opportunity in wealth management, signaling a much larger addressable market and supporting a bullish long-term outlook.
- Positive Sentiment: Recent options activity showed elevated call buying in Morgan Stanley, often a sign that investors are betting on further stock gains.
- Positive Sentiment: The firm’s most recent quarterly results were already strong, with earnings and revenue both beating expectations, which continues to support investor confidence.
- Neutral Sentiment: Recent headlines also show Morgan Stanley’s analysts actively moving on other names, including downgrading Accenture and raising targets on several stocks, but those reports are not direct catalysts for MS itself.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were 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 $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.
About Morgan Stanley
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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