Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases 5,385 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4%, buying an additional 5,385 shares to own 162,960 shares valued at about $28.93 million.
• Morgan Stanley posted a strong Q1 beat with EPS $3.43 (vs. $3.02 est.) and $20.58 billion in revenue, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 (annualized $4.00, ~2.1% yield).
• Institutional investors hold roughly 84.19% of MS shares while corporate insiders have been net sellers (110,444 shares, ~$20.7M sold in the last three months), amid mixed analyst ratings including recent upgrades and downgrades.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,385 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $28,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,281,000 after purchasing an additional 8,512 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 103.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 6,448 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,273,000 after purchasing an additional 9,056 shares during the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,043,000 after purchasing an additional 39,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, A4 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $855,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from "hold" to "buy," a direct third‑party endorsement that can attract flows and support sentiment for MS shares. Erste upgrade (Finviz)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks grouped Morgan Stanley among three investment‑bank giants to buy after strong Q1 results and outlooks — the inclusion reinforces buy‑side interest following MS’s recent quarterly beat and positive outlook commentary. Zacks buy list
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research is highlighted in MarketWatch arguing limited chance of a market pullback—an outlook that supports risk assets and can lift banks via trading, investment‑banking fees and wealth management flows. MarketWatch: MS market outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF (MSBT) is being discussed as a credible challenger to BlackRock’s IBIT — successful asset gathering for MSBT would expand fee and AUM upside for MS’s asset/wealth franchises. MSBT ETF story (247WallStreet)
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals: MS posted a strong Q1 (reported April 15) with an EPS and revenue beat and improving revenue growth — that quarter remains the primary fundamental anchor for current bullish positioning. MS profile & Q1 highlights (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage activity: Morgan Stanley analysts continue to publish price‑target moves (e.g., DigitalOcean coverage noted by TheStreet) — indicates active research/productivity but is not a direct driver of MS’s own stock. MS research note (TheStreet)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $201.89.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $190.11 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $112.03 and a 1-year high of $194.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.25.

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 firm 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given 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 is Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 36.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,254,222.62. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 110,444 shares of company stock worth $20,665,049 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley 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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