Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $35.21 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 198,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,591 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $35,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% during the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, High Note Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.7%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $212.44 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $335.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $128.81 and a one year high of $219.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $188.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.05.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’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 directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named a lead underwriter for Anthropic’s IPO, reinforcing its position in major capital-markets mandates. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Land Anthropic IPO
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also expanded its wealth-management/crypto offering through a referral arrangement with Galaxy Digital, which could support longer-term client engagement and product breadth. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Galaxy Digital Announce Referral Capability for In-Kind Creation of Spot Crypto ETP Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Management continues to see strong opportunities in selected financials names, including a recent positive stance on peers such as UnitedHealth and other coverage names, underscoring active analyst engagement across the franchise. UnitedHealth Positioned As AI Leader: Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Media attention around Morgan Stanley’s bullish SpaceX revenue outlook and related IPO coverage keeps the firm in the spotlight, but this is more of a longer-dated franchise story than an immediate earnings driver. Market Chatter: Morgan Stanley Projects SpaceX’s Revenue Reaching $3.4 Trillion in 2040

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.