Boston Trust Walden Corp Grows Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 20.9% in Q4, buying 37,355 shares to hold 216,353 shares worth about $38.41 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently — 110,444 shares sold (~$20.67 million) over the last three months, including Andrew M. Saperstein (51,668 shares, ~$9.74M) and Daniel A. Simkowitz (14,690 shares, ~$2.78M).
• Morgan Stanley beat Q1 expectations (EPS $3.43 vs $3.02; revenue $20.58B vs $19.23B), announced a $1 quarterly dividend (annualized $4.00, ~2.1% yield), and saw several analyst price-target upgrades (e.g., BMO to $220, BofA to $225).

Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 37,355 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $38,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 62.6% during the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,420 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,027,000 after buying an additional 4,398 shares in the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 3,348 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. TABR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $260,000. Finally, Leelyn Smith LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $764,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 110,444 shares of company stock worth $20,665,049 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s Q1 report showed a beat on both EPS and revenue, strong net margins and continued capital actions (dividend + repurchases), supporting earnings momentum and capital-return narrative. Morgan Stanley Strong Q1 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side firms raised price targets (Bank of America to $225; BMO/others to ~$220), which can attract buy interest and support higher valuations. BofA Lifts PT on Morgan Stanley BMO Capital Markets Increases MS PT to $220
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional crypto flows into Morgan Stanley’s Spot Bitcoin fund (MSBT) have been meaningful (reports of large weekly inflows / ~$100–$140M-sized allocations), boosting fee and AUM-growth expectations for wealth/asset-management. Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Fund Flows
• Positive Sentiment: Research call: Morgan Stanley analysts highlighted AI-driven opportunities (e.g., gaming could unlock ~$22B in profits), underscoring the firm’s influential research franchise that can drive trading flow and client engagement. MS Research: Gaming AI Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector tailwinds: Big-bank earnings across peers have lifted financials generally, which helps MS sentiment but is not company-specific upside. Financials Sector Lift
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: filings show Eric Grossman sold ~11.1k shares (~$2.1M) and additional insider disposals were reported — such sales can weigh on near-term sentiment even if for personal/liquidity reasons. MS Insider Sale

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE MS opened at $190.84 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $169.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.46. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $111.24 and a 12 month high of $194.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.19.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.89%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $196.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $201.33.

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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