Wealth Science Advisors LLC Takes $807,000 Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Wealth Science Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $807,000. Morgan Stanley makes up 0.5% of Wealth Science Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after acquiring an additional 8,512 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 103.1% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 6,448 shares in the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,273,000 after acquiring an additional 9,056 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 97.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,644,000 after buying an additional 11,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 52.6% during the third quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,043,000 after buying an additional 39,104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,444 shares of company stock valued at $20,665,049. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $188.66 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $111.24 and a 52 week high of $194.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The company has a market capitalization of $298.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $169.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.58.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.8 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley launched a Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio (MSNXX) that lets stablecoin issuers park reserves in a Morgan Stanley money?market vehicle; the program requires a $10M minimum and positions MS to capture fees from regulated stablecoin reserve flows. Morgan Stanley launches stablecoin offering through money market fund
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional crypto demand is showing up in MS product flows — Morgan Stanley’s bitcoin-tracking ETF (MSBT) took in meaningful early inflows, underlining distribution strength for digital-asset products at its wealth and investment?management channels. $138M Bitcoin Play Triggers Rally, Signals Shift In Big Money Sentiment
• Positive Sentiment: NZX accredited Morgan Stanley as a Clearing Participant ahead of the S&P/NZX 20 futures launch — a small but strategic win that expands MS’s institutional footprint in derivatives clearing and local market services. NZX Adds Morgan Stanley as Clearing Participant Ahead of S&P/NZX 20 Futures Launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks highlights Morgan Stanley’s capital?markets muscle and growth in wealth management — both drivers of revenue — but also flags rising expenses and trading volatility as risks to margin and future EPS. That makes the near?term outlook mixed. The Zacks Analyst Blog UnitedHealth, Morgan Stanley, RTX, Homes Group and Motorsport
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s Institute released a “Sustainable Signals” survey showing steady retail interest in sustainable investing — a reputation/flows positive but not an immediate earnings driver. Morgan Stanley Sustainable Signals: Individual Investors Remain Positive on Sustainable Investing
• Negative Sentiment: Some Morgan Stanley research (highlighted by TheStreet) is taking a dour view on US growth (GDP), which can feed into broader market volatility and weigh investor appetite for cyclical banking/markets exposure — a potential headwind for MS trading revenue. Morgan Stanley drops stunning take on GDP outlook

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.33.

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.