Capital International Inc. CA Lowers Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Capital International Inc. CA cut its Morgan Stanley stake by 44% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 150,029 shares valued at about $26.6 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.43 versus the $3.02 consensus and revenue of $20.58 billion, up 16% year over year.
• The company also maintained a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share and has drawn a mixed-to-positive view from analysts, who currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with an average price target of $205.95.

Capital International Inc. CA trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 44.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 150,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 117,828 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $26,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,736,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $21,253,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $249,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348,683 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $170,037,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.2% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,933,604 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $466,326,000 after acquiring an additional 841,263 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were 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 owned 169,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting 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 Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:MS opened at $212.44 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $128.81 and a 12 month high of $219.16. The company has a market cap of $335.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.18.

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, 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 36.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.95.

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.

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