Abacus Wealth Partners LLC Takes $1.87 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Abacus Wealth Partners LLC opened a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter, buying 10,543 shares worth about $1.87 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.43 per share and revenue of $20.58 billion, both beating analyst estimates.
• The bank continues to draw positive analyst and investor attention, with several price-target increases, a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, and a recent quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share.

Abacus Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,543 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,872,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% during the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% 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’s own recent commentary continues to sound constructive on markets, including a bullish call that the S&P 500 could reach 8,300 and a view that AI-related capital spending is supporting the U.S. economy. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The bank has also been raising or adjusting price targets on several companies tied to growth themes, reinforcing its credibility as a bullish market voice. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is also on Morgan Stanley’s own stock after a recent earnings beat and strong results, with a Zacks note asking why MS has risen since its last report. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a report highlighting Morgan Stanley’s midyear economic outlook, which emphasized “capex over consumption” and suggests the firm sees a mixed but resilient macro backdrop. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: Market sentiment is being weighed by rate and inflation concerns, with higher oil prices and a risk-off tone pressuring equities broadly — a backdrop that can hit financial stocks like MS even when fundamentals remain solid.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $192.51 on Friday. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $175.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.91. The company has a market cap of $303.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $123.88 and a 12 month high of $197.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The company 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 for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.26.

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 value 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. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Company 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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