Morgan Stanley $MS Stake Lowered by Rathbones Group PLC

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC cut its Morgan Stanley stake by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 66,494 shares and leaving it with 705,425 shares valued at about $125.2 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, posting $3.43 EPS versus $3.02 expected and revenue of $20.58 billion versus $19.23 billion estimated, with revenue up 16% year over year.
• The stock has also seen supportive sentiment from analysts and institutional investors, with multiple price-target raises, a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, and shares recently trading near a 52-week high at $197.70.

Rathbones Group PLC reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 705,425 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 66,494 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $125,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Brown Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 33,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares in the last quarter. Northbridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $572,000. Finally, Intrust Bank NA boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 17,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is helping lead a wave of renewed AI-dealmaking optimism, with its global technology M&A head saying AI-related transactions are likely to broaden beyond chips into power, data centers, and other infrastructure. This supports the bank’s investment-banking growth narrative. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI is reportedly preparing an IPO filing and working with Morgan Stanley as one of its bankers. That would be a high-profile mandate and could add to fees and visibility for MS if the deal moves forward. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also raised its price target on NextEra Energy after the Dominion deal, reinforcing that the firm remains active and constructive across equity research coverage. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Financial stocks were broadly stronger in late trading, which is providing a supportive sector backdrop for Morgan Stanley. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: A recent CICC Research note reportedly lifted Morgan Stanley’s price target to $200 from $175 while keeping an outperform view, signaling favorable sell-side sentiment. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 4.3%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $197.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $311.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $123.88 and a fifty-two week high of $198.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $177.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.58.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm 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 was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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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