Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Buys 64,401 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Rockefeller Capital Management boosted its Morgan Stanley stake by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 64,401 shares and bringing its total holdings to 429,669 shares valued at about $76.3 million.
• Morgan Stanley’s latest earnings topped expectations, with EPS of $3.43 versus the $3.02 estimate and revenue of $20.58 billion versus $19.23 billion expected. Revenue rose 16% year over year.
• The stock has been supported by strong institutional interest and upbeat analyst sentiment, with 84.19% of shares owned by institutions and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. Analysts currently assign a consensus target price of $206.35, though the shares recently traded near $223.69.

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 429,669 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 64,401 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $76,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $223.69 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $130.90 and a 52 week high of $230.47. The company has a market capitalization of $352.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s investment management arm, together with Ridgeback Group, agreed to acquire Metra Living, a UK private rental business, for about £1.045 billion. The deal expands MS into residential rental assets and highlights its ability to deploy capital into new fee-generating businesses. Morgan Stanley Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also reacting to Morgan Stanley’s strong recent operating results: the firm posted Q1 EPS of $3.43, topping estimates, and revenue of $20.58 billion, also ahead of expectations, with year-over-year revenue growth of 16%. That supports the view that fundamentals remain solid after the stock’s big run. Morgan Stanley stock performance and earnings background
• Positive Sentiment: News that Morgan Stanley is part of the bank group working on possible OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs adds another potential catalyst, since high-profile tech listings could boost advisory and capital markets fees if they move forward. OpenAI, Anthropic IPOs Spark Battle Between Goldman And Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces also frame MS as a long-term momentum name and note that the stock has been trading near its highs, which may be attracting trend-following buyers rather than pointing to a single new catalyst. Why Morgan Stanley is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was 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 directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.35.

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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