Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd Has $46.02 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd increased its Morgan Stanley stake by 10.1% in the first quarter, buying 25,468 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 278,808 shares valued at about $46.0 million.
• Morgan Stanley beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $3.43 versus the $3.02 consensus and revenue of $20.58 billion, up 16% year over year. Analysts now expect the firm to deliver 11.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company also raised its dividend to $1.00 per share for the quarter and approved a $20 billion share buyback program, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy outlook with an average target price of $209.50.

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 278,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,468 shares during the period. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $46,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $212.85 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $135.26 and a twelve month high of $230.47. The firm has a market cap of $335.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.23. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $203.03 and a 200-day moving average of $184.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and reapproved a $20 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence in capital strength and shareholder returns.
• Positive Sentiment: Continued to highlight strength in its core franchise, with recent earnings showing strong revenue and profit growth and analysts still expecting double-digit earnings growth into the next quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles also quote Morgan Stanley strategists and analysts on broader market themes, including the tech selloff and AI trade, but these comments are not direct operating updates for MS.
• Negative Sentiment: Private-credit redemption pressure is weighing on sentiment, as investors worry that withdrawal limits in Morgan Stanley’s fund could be a sign of broader stress in the sector.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.