Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Bought by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 228,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,913 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $40,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $203.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $182.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.18. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $126.35 and a 12-month high of $204.38. The stock has a market cap of $321.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continued to benefit from strong recent earnings, with the company having recently beaten consensus on both EPS and revenue, reinforcing confidence in its operating performance.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary highlighted “record revenue” and rising dividends, which can help attract income-focused investors and support the stock’s valuation. Record Revenue, Rising Dividends—So Why Aren’t Analysts Saying Buy? (MS)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains constructive overall, including multiple buy-equivalent ratings and a recent price target of $610 from Morgan Stanley analyst Manan Gosalia on Broadcom-related coverage, which reflects the firm’s continued visibility across key growth themes.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some articles mention Morgan Stanley in connection with broader market calls and conference sponsorships, which are not direct catalysts for MS shares but keep the firm in the headlines.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Dbs Bank increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.95.

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.