Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,921 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley helped lead Avalyn Pharma’s IPO (book?runner role), a fee?generating capital markets deal that signals continued ECM activity and underwriting pipeline. Avalyn Pharma IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Research strength is visible: Morgan Stanley’s analysts have issued high?profile calls (e.g., double?tier upgrades on media names and a dramatic Caterpillar target raise) that reinforce MS’s institutional franchise and brokerage/research credibility. Those activities support fees and trading flows. Paramount Skydance upgrade Caterpillar price?target move
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Morgan Stanley to a stronger buy, which is supportive for sentiment but often already reflected in short?term flows; media/IB coverage (IBD write?ups) also highlight MS’s deal pipeline. Zacks upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: E*TRADE (part of Morgan Stanley) published its sector?rotation study today — useful for understanding client flows and positioning but unlikely to move MS shares dramatically on its own. E*TRADE sector rotation study
• Negative Sentiment: A new lawsuit alleges Morgan Stanley improperly enabled third?party tracking of website users — a reputational and legal overhang that can create headline volatility and uncertainty around potential costs or regulatory scrutiny. That news is likely the largest immediate negative today. Lawsuit on data collection

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.89.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $190.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $171.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.99. The stock has a market cap of $300.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $117.21 and a 1 year high of $194.59.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.89%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. 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.