Swedbank AB Grows Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% to 906,141 shares, owning 0.06% of the company worth about $160.9 million.
• Morgan Stanley beat Q1 expectations, reporting $3.43 EPS (vs. $3.02 expected) and $20.58B revenue (vs. $19.23B), and announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend (2.1% yield, $4 annualized).
• Mixed corporate catalysts: MS was named lead arranger on Meta’s ~$13B El Paso data‑center financing and expanded trading access on ADX with ETF inflows, but faces a preliminary U.S. probe into its Budapest investment‑banking program, creating regulatory overhang.

Swedbank AB grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 906,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,953 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $160,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% during the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley named a lead arranger on Meta’s reported ~$13B El Paso data‑center financing — a meaningful IB mandate that could generate sizable fees and underscores MS’s role on large tech infrastructure deals. Meta taps Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan for El Paso data center deal
• Positive Sentiment: International expansion: Morgan Stanley was named a remote trading member on ADX, widening market access for clients in the Gulf — positive for global trading and wealth flows. ADX welcomes Morgan Stanley as the first international investment bank Remote Trading Member
• Positive Sentiment: Asset‑management flows: U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF inflows show Morgan Stanley’s MSBT had positive inflows recently — a small but visible win for its ETF/asset management franchise. That supports recurring fee upside in the alternatives/ETF line. Bitcoin ETFs pull in $532M as BTC reclaims $80K
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst moves: Daiwa raised MS’s price target to $198 (still a Neutral rating) — helpful for sentiment but not a full sell‑side upgrade; it implies limited near‑term upside from current levels. Daiwa Securities adjusts price target on Morgan Stanley to $198
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research is prominent in market narratives (AI capex and semiconductor coverage), reinforcing its institutional franchise — positive for durable research/IB flow but indirect for near‑term stock moves. This is why stocks keep rallying, according to Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: reports say U.S. regulators have opened a preliminary investigation into Morgan Stanley’s Budapest investment‑banking program — this raises legal/regulatory overhang and could pressure sentiment until the scope/impact are clarified. Morgan Stanley's investment banking program in Budapest hit by US probe

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MS opened at $189.21 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $171.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.19. The company has a market cap of $299.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $117.21 and a twelve month high of $194.59.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during 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 17.89%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 36.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Evercore lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $196.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently 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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