Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Has $155.72 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, but still held 877,171 shares worth about $155.7 million at the end of the period.
• Wall Street remains broadly constructive on Morgan Stanley, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $205.95.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $3.43 versus the $3.02 estimate and revenue of $20.58 billion, while also paying a $1.00 quarterly dividend (1.9% yield).

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 877,171 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,791 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.0% of Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $155,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $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. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Argus lifted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Dbs Bank increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.95.

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2%

MS opened at $212.44 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $128.81 and a fifty-two week high of $219.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $335.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50-day moving average is $188.81 and its 200 day moving average is $179.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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