Myriad Asset Management Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 28,520 Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Myriad Asset Management Advisors initiated a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter, buying 28,520 shares valued at about $5.06 million. The stake makes MS its 14th-largest holding and about 1.6% of its portfolio.
• Morgan Stanley reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $3.43 beating estimates and revenue of $20.58 billion topping forecasts. Revenue rose 16% year over year, and analysts now expect full-year EPS of 11.85.
• Sentiment remains constructive: the stock pays a $4.00 annual dividend yield of about 1.9%, and Wall Street currently rates it a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $205.95. Several analysts recently raised price targets, while insiders have also been selling shares.

Myriad Asset Management Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 28,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,063,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 1.6% of Myriad Asset Management Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after buying an additional 167,487 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after buying an additional 534,708 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after buying an additional 524,189 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,736,648,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues to get constructive analyst attention, including recent pieces calling it a strong momentum name and a buy idea for investors. What Makes Morgan Stanley (MS) a Strong Momentum Stock: Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: The bank is being seen as a beneficiary of a potential AI IPO wave, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley expected to earn underwriting, trading, and advisory fees from offerings such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX. Forget the AI IPOs. Consider the Banks Bringing Them Public.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also announced a new AI-related move in wealth management, opening its workplace stock-plan platforms to clients’ AI agents, which could deepen client ties and improve efficiency. Morgan Stanley Expands AI Access to Power Workplace Wealth Hub
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported that Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities aims to grow retail wealth assets by $62 billion over the medium to long term, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s global wealth-management growth story. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities aims to grow retail wealth assets by $62 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Several Morgan Stanley-linked notes on other companies were mixed recently, including a price-target cut on General Mills and a cautionary underweight stance on Dell, showing the firm is still selective despite the positive MS narrative. Morgan Stanley Cuts General Mills (GIS) Forecast Again Amid Inflation Concerns

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $206.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $326.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.23. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $128.81 and a 12-month high of $219.16. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley 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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