3,000 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Acquired by CFO Capital Management LLC

CFO Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.35.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2%

MS opened at $223.69 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.78. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $130.90 and a 12 month high of $230.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction 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 approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s investment management arm, together with Ridgeback Group, agreed to acquire Metra Living, a UK private rental business, for about £1.045 billion. The deal expands MS into residential rental assets and highlights its ability to deploy capital into new fee-generating businesses. Morgan Stanley Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also reacting to Morgan Stanley’s strong recent operating results: the firm posted Q1 EPS of $3.43, topping estimates, and revenue of $20.58 billion, also ahead of expectations, with year-over-year revenue growth of 16%. That supports the view that fundamentals remain solid after the stock’s big run. Morgan Stanley stock performance and earnings background
• Positive Sentiment: News that Morgan Stanley is part of the bank group working on possible OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs adds another potential catalyst, since high-profile tech listings could boost advisory and capital markets fees if they move forward. OpenAI, Anthropic IPOs Spark Battle Between Goldman And Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces also frame MS as a long-term momentum name and note that the stock has been trading near its highs, which may be attracting trend-following buyers rather than pointing to a single new catalyst. Why Morgan Stanley is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term

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.