ARS Investment Partners LLC Buys 58,088 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• ARS Investment Partners boosted its Morgan Stanley stake by 46.3% in the first quarter, buying 58,088 additional shares and bringing its total to 183,657 shares worth about $30.2 million.
• Morgan Stanley has seen heavy institutional interest, with 84.19% of shares owned by institutions and major holders like Vanguard, Norges Bank, and Price T Rowe also adding to their positions.
• The company’s recent fundamentals and outlook remain solid: Q1 earnings beat expectations with EPS of $3.43 on revenue of $20.58 billion, while analysts still rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $206.35.

ARS Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 46.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 183,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 58,088 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 1.6% of ARS Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. ARS Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $30,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,648,354,000 after acquiring an additional 3,364,080 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 142.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $511,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $249,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s investment management arm, together with Ridgeback Group, agreed to acquire Metra Living, a UK private rental business, for about £1.045 billion. The deal expands MS into residential rental assets and highlights its ability to deploy capital into new fee-generating businesses. Morgan Stanley Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also reacting to Morgan Stanley’s strong recent operating results: the firm posted Q1 EPS of $3.43, topping estimates, and revenue of $20.58 billion, also ahead of expectations, with year-over-year revenue growth of 16%. That supports the view that fundamentals remain solid after the stock’s big run. Morgan Stanley stock performance and earnings background
• Positive Sentiment: News that Morgan Stanley is part of the bank group working on possible OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs adds another potential catalyst, since high-profile tech listings could boost advisory and capital markets fees if they move forward. OpenAI, Anthropic IPOs Spark Battle Between Goldman And Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces also frame MS as a long-term momentum name and note that the stock has been trading near its highs, which may be attracting trend-following buyers rather than pointing to a single new catalyst. Why Morgan Stanley is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.35.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

MS opened at $223.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $130.90 and a twelve month high of $230.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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