SHP Wealth Management Acquires New Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• SHP Wealth Management opened a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter, buying 18,337 shares worth about $3.26 million.
• Morgan Stanley continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 84.19% of the stock, even as some insiders have recently sold shares.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock: Morgan Stanley has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and a consensus price target of $206.35, while the shares were trading near $223.69 after a strong earnings report.

SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 18,337 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,255,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, CICC Research increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.35.

Trending Headlines about 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

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

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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