NewEdge Wealth LLC Acquires 10,086 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 62.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,086 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $695,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.26.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was highlighted in multiple pieces as a supportive analyst name, with recent coverage noting a “moderate buy” consensus and a dividend-focused bull case for the stock. That can help reinforce investor confidence in MS as a quality financial name.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm is expanding into lower-fee crypto trading for retail investors, offering Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana at competitive prices. That move could be viewed as a growth initiative that broadens Morgan Stanley’s appeal to younger and more active clients. Will Lower Crypto Fees Help Morgan Stanley Win Retail Investors?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s macro team said Tuesday’s CPI report could come in “spicier” than expected, keeping inflation and Federal Reserve expectations in focus. That’s more of a market-wide trading catalyst than a direct MS fundamental driver. Morgan Stanley Sees ‘Spicier’ CPI as Inflation Week Kicks Off
• Neutral Sentiment: Other recent Morgan Stanley commentary focused on oil-market risks from a possible Strait of Hormuz disruption, which may affect broader risk sentiment and rates/commodity expectations, but does not directly change MS’s operating outlook. Oil Market in ‘Race Against Time’ on Hormuz, Morgan Stanley Says

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.1%

MS opened at $190.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $301.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.08. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $123.88 and a fifty-two week high of $194.83.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during 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 17.70%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.