Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $7.73 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,715 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues to get constructive analyst attention, including recent pieces calling it a strong momentum name and a buy idea for investors. What Makes Morgan Stanley (MS) a Strong Momentum Stock: Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: The bank is being seen as a beneficiary of a potential AI IPO wave, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley expected to earn underwriting, trading, and advisory fees from offerings such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX. Forget the AI IPOs. Consider the Banks Bringing Them Public.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also announced a new AI-related move in wealth management, opening its workplace stock-plan platforms to clients’ AI agents, which could deepen client ties and improve efficiency. Morgan Stanley Expands AI Access to Power Workplace Wealth Hub
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported that Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities aims to grow retail wealth assets by $62 billion over the medium to long term, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s global wealth-management growth story. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities aims to grow retail wealth assets by $62 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Several Morgan Stanley-linked notes on other companies were mixed recently, including a price-target cut on General Mills and a cautionary underweight stance on Dell, showing the firm is still selective despite the positive MS narrative. Morgan Stanley Cuts General Mills (GIS) Forecast Again Amid Inflation Concerns

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.6%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $206.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $326.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $128.81 and a twelve month high of $219.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.80 and a 200-day moving average of $180.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.95.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.