Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Bought by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its Morgan Stanley stake by 126.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 98,384 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 176,282 shares worth about $31.3 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong first-quarter earnings, with EPS of $3.43 beating estimates of $3.02 and revenue of $20.58 billion topping expectations. Revenue rose 16% year over year, helping support the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive overall: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $205.95, while several firms recently raised their targets despite some insider selling and regulatory overhangs.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 126.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 176,282 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 98,384 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own recent coverage points to solid first-quarter results, with strong client engagement plus strength in investment banking and trading, which has helped support the stock’s recent rise.
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles also highlight Morgan Stanley analyst actions that are constructive on other names, reinforcing the firm’s active role in sector coverage and keeping attention on its research franchise.
• Neutral Sentiment: New headlines include Morgan Stanley revising price targets on peers such as Royal Caribbean, Aflac, ADP, NextEra Energy, Park Hotels, and Equinor; these are more relevant to those stocks than to MS itself, but they keep Morgan Stanley in the spotlight as a key Wall Street opinion leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also still weighing broader macro and sector sentiment, which can influence Morgan Stanley shares even without a direct earnings surprise or guidance change.
• Negative Sentiment: One notable overhang is regulatory scrutiny tied to Morgan Stanley’s German banking unit structure, where Senator Elizabeth Warren is urging regulators to reconsider an exemption. That could raise questions about capital and cross-border structuring, which is a modest valuation risk for a global bank.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4%

MS opened at $201.81 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market cap of $318.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $126.35 and a 52 week high of $203.92. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $180.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.62.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business 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 for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

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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