Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 126.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 176,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,384 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after purchasing an additional 167,487 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after purchasing an additional 524,189 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,267,847,000 after purchasing an additional 822,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,712,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,831,000 after purchasing an additional 354,871 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $201.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $318.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $126.35 and a one year high of $203.92. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.62.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 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 return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own recent coverage points to solid first-quarter results, with strong client engagement plus strength in investment banking and trading, which has helped support the stock’s recent rise.
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles also highlight Morgan Stanley analyst actions that are constructive on other names, reinforcing the firm’s active role in sector coverage and keeping attention on its research franchise.
• Neutral Sentiment: New headlines include Morgan Stanley revising price targets on peers such as Royal Caribbean, Aflac, ADP, NextEra Energy, Park Hotels, and Equinor; these are more relevant to those stocks than to MS itself, but they keep Morgan Stanley in the spotlight as a key Wall Street opinion leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also still weighing broader macro and sector sentiment, which can influence Morgan Stanley shares even without a direct earnings surprise or guidance change.
• Negative Sentiment: One notable overhang is regulatory scrutiny tied to Morgan Stanley’s German banking unit structure, where Senator Elizabeth Warren is urging regulators to reconsider an exemption. That could raise questions about capital and cross-border structuring, which is a modest valuation risk for a global bank.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.95.

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.