146,745 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Bought by PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators

Key Points

• PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators opened a new position in Morgan Stanley, buying 146,745 shares worth about $26.1 million in the fourth quarter. The stake makes MS its 12th largest holding and about 0.9% of the portfolio.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but constructive: analysts currently rate Morgan Stanley “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $205.95. The stock recently traded at $212.44, above that consensus target.
• Morgan Stanley reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.43 versus estimates of $3.02 and revenue of $20.58 billion. The company also paid a $1.00 quarterly dividend, equal to a 1.9% annualized yield.

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 146,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $26,052,000. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 0.9% of PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators' investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in 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. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Dbs Bank boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $212.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $188.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.05. The firm 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 has a 52 week low of $128.81 and a 52 week high of $219.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Trending Headlines about 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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company'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 value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Corporate 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.

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