Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd

Key Points

• Catalyst Funds Management sharply cut its Morgan Stanley stake by 85.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,100 shares and leaving it with 2,300 shares worth about $408,000.
• Morgan Stanley recently posted strong first-quarter results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and several analysts have raised price targets; the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $205.95.
• The shares were trading near $201.18, close to their 52-week high, while the company also paid a $1.00 quarterly dividend and insiders have continued selling shares in recent months.

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 85.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,100 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% during the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha flagged that Morgan Stanley was upgraded to Buy after its strong first-quarter results, reinforcing the view that recent earnings momentum is still supporting the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage also noted that Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) ahead of the GTA VI release, underscoring continued active equity-research influence and a generally constructive tone from the bank’s analysts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own recent stock commentary said MS has delivered a strong one-year rally, with investors still debating valuation versus earnings power rather than reacting to any single new company-specific surprise. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:MS opened at $201.18 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $123.88 and a 1-year high of $203.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.10.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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