Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV opened a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter, buying 23,109 shares valued at about $4.1 million. The stake represents 0.9% of its holdings and ranks as its 26th largest position.
• Morgan Stanley has seen a wave of bullish analyst revisions, including higher price targets from DBS Bank, UBS, BMO Capital Markets, and Barclays. The stock now carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $206.26.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, posting $3.43 EPS versus $3.02 expected and $20.58 billion in revenue versus $19.23 billion expected. Morgan Stanley also declared a $1.00 quarterly dividend, or $4.00 annualized, yielding about 2.1%.

Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 23,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,103,000. Morgan Stanley makes up 0.9% of Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: DBS Bank raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $220 from $185, signaling more upside potential. DBS Bank price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank lifted FY2027 earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley, while keeping a Buy rating, reinforcing confidence in longer-term earnings power.
• Positive Sentiment: UBS also increased its Morgan Stanley price target to $214 from $196, adding to the wave of bullish revisions. UBS price target update

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.26.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $192.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business's 50 day moving average price is $172.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $304.40 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $121.46 and a 1 year high of $194.83.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. 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 the business's stock in a transaction 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider directly 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 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 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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