CIBC Asset Management Inc Buys 112,615 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• CIBC Asset Management boosted its Morgan Stanley stake by 61% in the fourth quarter, buying 112,615 additional shares and bringing its position to 297,315 shares worth about $52.8 million.
• Morgan Stanley posted a strong quarter, with EPS of $3.43 versus the $3.02 estimate and revenue of $20.58 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue rose 16% year over year.
• The company continues to return cash to shareholders, paying a $1.00 quarterly dividend for a 1.9% annualized yield. Meanwhile, analysts remain moderately positive, with the stock carrying an average "Moderate Buy" rating and a target price of about $205.95.

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 61.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 297,315 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 112,615 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $52,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,281,000 after acquiring an additional 8,512 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 103.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,000 after acquiring an additional 6,448 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,043,000 after acquiring an additional 39,104 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 157,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,048,000 after acquiring an additional 5,876 shares during the period. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 569.5% during the 3rd quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 296,764 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,484,000 after acquiring an additional 252,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were reportedly chosen to lead Anthropic’s IPO, a potentially high-profile assignment that could bring underwriting fees, trading activity, and prestige if the deal moves forward. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Land Anthropic IPO
• Positive Sentiment: A separate report said Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital led a $33 million growth financing for Subtle Medical, reinforcing the firm’s active role in funding AI-related and healthcare technology opportunities. Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital Leads $33 Million Growth Financing For Subtle Medical
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also published macro commentary warning that Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s first policy meeting could jolt foreign-exchange markets, a view that matters more for the broader market backdrop than for MS directly. Warsh’s Fed Debut Is a Key Risk for FX, Morgan Stanley Says

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $210.63 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $127.34 and a 52-week high of $217.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $186.82 and a 200 day moving average of $178.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. CICC Research boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.95.

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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