Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 102,301 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. sharply reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 77.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 102,301 shares and leaving it with 29,366 shares valued at about $5.2 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong first-quarter earnings, with EPS of $3.43 beating estimates and revenue of $20.58 billion topping forecasts, helping support a generally positive analyst outlook.
• Several analysts raised price targets on MS, and the stock was trading around $201.18 with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $205.95.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. trimmed its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 77.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 102,301 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in the fourth 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. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $170,037,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 40.2% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,933,604 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $466,326,000 after acquiring an additional 841,263 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,267,847,000 after acquiring an additional 822,120 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. Argus upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Evercore boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MS opened at $201.18 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $123.88 and a 12-month high of $203.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $179.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.01.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company'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 of the company's stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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