Themes Management Co LLC Makes New $958,000 Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Themes Management Co LLC opened a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter, buying 5,396 shares valued at about $958,000.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly earnings, with EPS of $3.43 beating estimates and revenue of $20.58 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 16% year over year.
• Analysts remain generally upbeat on the stock, with several firms raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at Moderate Buy with an average target of $205.95.

Themes Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $958,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Morgan Stanley’s strong first-quarter 2026 performance, with gains driven by solid client activity and healthy investment banking and trading results, which supports the stock’s bullish momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent market coverage also emphasized that Morgan Stanley has outperformed the broader market and much of the financial sector so far this year, reinforcing investor confidence in the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s analysts issued several ratings actions on other companies, including an upgrade on Franklin Resources and cuts to targets on Edison International, Polaris, Southern Company, and others. These show the firm remains active and influential, but they are only indirect catalysts for MS. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from Morgan Stanley portfolio manager Andrew Slimmon about the market not being in a dot-com bubble adds visibility for the firm, but it does not materially change the near-term outlook for MS stock. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MS stock opened at $201.18 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $180.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.36. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $123.88 and a twelve month high of $203.09. 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 company has a market capitalization of $317.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for 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 17.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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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