Heartland Bank & Trust Co Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake of 7,488 shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during Q4, valued at about $1.33 million per its latest 13F filing.
• Morgan Stanley beat quarterly estimates with $3.43 EPS (vs. $3.02 est.) and $20.58B revenue (vs. $19.23B est.), with revenue up 16% year‑over‑year, and announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend (annualized $4.00, ~2.1% yield) payable May 15.
• The stock has a market cap near $298B, a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $201.89, and about 84% of shares are held by institutional investors.

Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,488 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,329,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after purchasing an additional 167,487 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,494,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,893,590,000 after purchasing an additional 448,960 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 822,120 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,712,071 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,543,831,000 after purchasing an additional 354,871 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.0%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $188.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $297.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $117.21 and a 52 week high of $194.59. The business's 50-day moving average price is $171.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 14.65%.Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named a lead arranger on a roughly $13 billion financing for Meta’s planned El Paso data‑center, a large corporate financing that should generate sizable underwriting and advisory fees and signals continued dealflow in tech infrastructure. Meta taps Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan for El Paso data center deal
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management launched a centralized Wealth Education Center for advisors — a distribution and client‑education tool that can help drive AUM retention and advisory flows over time. Morgan Stanley Investment Management Introduces Wealth Education Center
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research remains active and visible (notes on tech, semiconductors and AI capex), which supports the firm’s reputation and potential trading/research revenue but is an indirect driver of stock moves. Morgan Stanley Lifts Targets on Semiconductor Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley commentary that strong tech earnings could offset geopolitical risk underscores its role in market strategy; this is more reputational than immediately earnings‑moving. Morgan Stanley Sees Tech Earnings Eclipsing Iran War for Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Financial-sector weakness today is pressuring banks broadly; MS is being pulled lower with the group as investors trim exposure to rate and macro risk. Sector Update: Financial Stocks Decline in Afternoon Trading
• Negative Sentiment: Intraday trading shows below‑average volume and profit‑taking after recent gains; lower demand can amplify downward moves even when firm‑level headlines are positive. MS stock trading details

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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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