111 Capital Acquires 6,230 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

111 Capital boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 173.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,230 shares during the quarter. 111 Capital's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 103.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,000 after buying an additional 6,448 shares in the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,043,000 after buying an additional 39,104 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 157,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,048,000 after buying an additional 5,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 679.8% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,527,000 after buying an additional 36,963 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Argus lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.95.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm'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 value 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 $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $212.44 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. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $128.81 and a 12-month high of $219.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $188.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $335.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

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.

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