Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 8,500 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,500 shares and leaving it with 186,033 shares valued at about $33.0 million.
• Other institutions were active in MS as well, including large stakes from Norges Bank and Vanguard, and 84.19% of the stock is held by institutional investors.
• Morgan Stanley’s latest quarter topped expectations, with EPS of $3.43 versus $3.02 expected and revenue of $20.58 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $205.95.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,500 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $33,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,736,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in 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 grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in 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 position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $170,037,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.2% in 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 owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the 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 sale, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $212.44 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.05. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $128.81 and a 1-year high of $219.16. The firm has a market cap of $335.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

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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