Erste Asset Management GmbH Has $43.24 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Erste Asset Management GmbH reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 242,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,649 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $43,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have 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 in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• 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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.95.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2%

MS stock opened at $212.44 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $335.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. 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 12 month low of $128.81 and a 12 month high of $219.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $188.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.18.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.