Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Swedbank AB

Key Points

• Swedbank AB trimmed its Morgan Stanley stake by 3.3% in the first quarter, selling 30,276 shares and ending with 875,865 shares worth about $144.1 million.
• Analysts remain broadly cautious-to-bullish on the stock: recent target hikes from firms like UBS and Bank of America have pushed the consensus price target to $215.20, with the overall rating at Hold.
• Morgan Stanley continues to post strong shareholder returns, including a $1.00 quarterly dividend and a new $20 billion share repurchase authorization, after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue.

Swedbank AB decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 875,865 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,276 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $144,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,648,354,000 after buying an additional 3,364,080 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $249,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $215.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Morgan Stanley (MS) to $255 from $214 and reiterated a buy rating, suggesting additional upside from current levels. UBS Group Boosts Morgan Stanley NYSE: MS Price Target to $255.00
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America also lifted its target on Morgan Stanley (MS) to $250 and kept a buy rating, reinforcing the bullish analyst tone ahead of earnings. Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Bank of America Corporation from $225.00 to $250.00.
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also focusing on Morgan Stanley’s Q2 earnings report due July 15, with expectations for solid revenue and EPS, while recent commentary has highlighted strength in Wall Street trading activity and capital markets as a potential tailwind for bank results.
• Positive Sentiment: Broader financial-sector optimism is helping sentiment, as analysts have been pointing to strong second-quarter earnings prospects for major U.S. banks and continued strength in trading and advisory activity.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own market commentary has also been active, including calls that investors may rotate toward hyperscalers and AI-linked names; that’s more of a broader strategy backdrop than a direct driver for MS itself. Trading surge, helped by SpaceX IPO, seen lifting Wall St banks' second-quarter earnings

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $222.12 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $206.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.38. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $135.26 and a 1-year high of $230.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $350.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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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