Danske Bank A S Buys 84,366 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Danske Bank A S grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 739,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 84,366 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $131,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $170,037,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake 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. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,267,847,000 after acquiring an additional 822,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 150.3% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,234,969 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $196,311,000 after buying an additional 741,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $196.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.89.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $190.64 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $171.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $114.67 and a 12-month high of $194.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released 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 17.89%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Morgan Stanley to a "Strong Buy" — an independent upgrade that can attract buy-side flows and positive near‑term sentiment. Zacks Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised Morgan Stanley's FY2026 and FY2027 EPS forecasts — upward analyst revisions signal improving earnings momentum and can support valuation expansion (estimates now above prior consensus).
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management led an $875M senior-debt financing for Bridgepointe Technologies — highlights growth in MS’s private-credit and investment-management fee businesses, which diversify revenue beyond trading/IB. Bridgepointe Financing
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was a lead underwriter on Avalyn Pharma’s upsized IPO — a reminder that MS continues to win underwriting mandates (fee revenue potential), though IPO pipeline timing is uncertain. Avalyn IPO
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley executives/public staff commented publicly on crypto (Bitcoin on bank balance sheets is “not totally out of the question”) — signals potential future product/market expansion, but no immediate balance‑sheet change. Bitcoin Balance-Sheet Comments
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s macro research updated its Fed‑cut timing (sticky core inflation view) — relevant to the bank’s trading / rates exposure, but an information signal rather than an immediate revenue driver. Fed Call Shift
• Negative Sentiment: A class-action lawsuit alleges Morgan Stanley enabled improper user-data collection/sharing on its website — legal and reputational risk could raise compliance costs and distract management if the case expands to class status. Lawsuit on Data Practices

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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