Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Krilogy Financial LLC

Krilogy Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,080 shares during the quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,354,000 after buying an additional 3,364,080 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,710,000 after buying an additional 1,348,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.65.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $227.08 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $135.01 and a fifty-two week high of $230.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $201.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market cap of $358.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is exploring a major expansion in Texas, including a Dallas office-building deal, which suggests continued investment in its U.S. franchise and long-term growth plans. Morgan Stanley Weighs Expansion to Dallas With $1.33 Billion Office-Building Deal
• Positive Sentiment: The bank is expanding its crypto ETF offerings with proposed Ethereum and Solana funds, a move that could strengthen Morgan Stanley’s fee-based product lineup and attract new investor assets. Morgan Stanley (MS) Launches 0.14% Ethereum And Solana ETFs With 95% Staking Rewards
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was also mentioned as the hired advisor on SPS Commerce’s sale process, highlighting its dealmaking role but with limited direct impact on MS shares. SPS Commerce hires Morgan Stanley to explore sale amid activist push – Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: Separately, Morgan Stanley capped a private credit fund after redemption requests of 11.6%, a reminder that some alternative-credit products are facing investor pressure. Morgan Stanley caps private credit fund after redemption requests of 11.6%

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.