Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Payden & Rygel

Key Points

• Payden & Rygel reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 14,600 shares and leaving it with 175,900 shares worth about $31.2 million.
• Insiders also trimmed holdings, including sales by Eric F. Grossman and Andrew M. Saperstein; overall insiders sold 77,476 shares worth $14.6 million over the last 90 days.
• Morgan Stanley beat quarterly earnings expectations, posting $3.43 EPS on $20.58 billion in revenue, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with an average target price of $206.26.

Payden & Rygel lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 175,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,600 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 2.2% of Payden & Rygel's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Payden & Rygel's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WD Rutherford LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Spectrum Strategic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $573,000. Intrua Financial LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 5,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Odyssey Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $367,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.26.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own analysis of broader markets remains constructive, with strategists saying equities still have upside support from AI-driven growth and employment trends, even as they flag recession and bond-market risks. That keeps the firm visible in the ongoing AI-led market narrative. Morgan Stanley Remains Bullish on Equities While Flagging Recession Risks Ahead
• Positive Sentiment: The bank also helped fuel bullish sentiment in semiconductors by raising its revenue estimate for Nvidia ahead of earnings and highlighting continued upside potential, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s influence in high-profile growth themes that investors are still rewarding. Morgan Stanley Lifts Nvidia Stock (NVDA) Price Target Ahead of Q1 Earnings, Sees ‘Continued Upside to Numbers’
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent market headlines show Morgan Stanley-linked commentary spanning everything from AI infrastructure to energy and utilities, suggesting the bank is well positioned around major investor themes, though none of these articles directly change MS fundamentals today.
• Negative Sentiment: At the same time, the firm warned that a bond selloff could trigger a meaningful stock-market correction. That caution may temper enthusiasm and explains why any move higher in Morgan Stanley (MS) is modest rather than explosive. Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Warns Stock Rally at Risk From Bond Rout

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $192.71 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $176.15 and a 200-day moving average of $175.16. The firm has a market cap of $303.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $123.88 and a twelve month high of $197.50. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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