Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 18.5%, owning 77,341 shares worth about $13.73 million after buying an additional 12,070 shares in Q4.
• Morgan Stanley beat quarterly expectations with $3.43 EPS (vs. $3.02 est.) and $20.58 billion revenue (vs. $19.23 billion est.), reported 16% YoY revenue growth, and announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend (annualized $4.00; yield ~2.1%).
• Analysts have grown more positive—MS carries a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $201.89, including upgrades and higher targets from BMO, UBS and Zacks.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,070 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $13,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $196.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.89.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE:MS opened at $190.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $301.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $114.67 and a fifty-two week high of $194.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business 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 17.89%. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley received a notable analyst upgrade to Zacks’ “Strong Buy,” which can attract momentum-driven flows and validates recent earnings strength and positioning in wealth and investment banking. Zacks Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management led an $875M senior debt financing for Bridgepointe Technologies — evidence MS’s private-credit and asset-management businesses are winning sizable direct-lending mandates that generate fee income and diversify revenue. Bridgepointe Financing
• Positive Sentiment: MS acted as a lead underwriter on the upsized Avalyn Pharma IPO — a sign the firm remains active in ECM and capital-markets underwriting, which supports deal fees and investment-banking pipeline visibility. Avalyn IPO Pricing
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research is visible across sector calls (naming Targa Resources a top midstream pick and publishing sector notes on software, utilities, pharma, etc.). That amplifies MS’s franchise value but is indirect to near-term trading unless tied to fee wins. Targa Top Pick
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley executives signaled openness to the idea of banks holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets if regulatory and capital-treatment hurdles change — a strategic position that keeps MS relevant in digital-asset conversations but carries regulatory complexity. Investors view this as a longer‑term optionality item rather than immediate earnings impact. Bitcoin on Balance Sheet
• Negative Sentiment: A new lawsuit alleges Morgan Stanley enabled improper third-party web tracking and data-sharing; it's seeking class-action status. Legal and privacy suits can create headline risk, potential regulatory scrutiny and defense costs — an overhang on sentiment while unresolved. Lawsuit on Data Collection

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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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