Morgan Stanley Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Morgan Stanley saw 27,299 call options traded on Monday, about 48% above its normal call volume, suggesting traders were betting on further upside.
• Strong business outlook and earnings: CEO Ted Pick said the wealth division could potentially reach a $10 trillion asset target, while the company also beat quarterly expectations with $3.43 EPS on $20.58 billion in revenue.
• Stock and analyst sentiment remain constructive: Shares hit $219.07, near the 52-week high, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with a $206.35 target price.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 27,299 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 48% compared to the typical volume of 18,485 call options.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Ted Pick said Morgan Stanley’s wealth division alone could potentially reach a $10 trillion asset target, supporting the case for stronger long-term fee growth and earnings power.
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call-option trading in Morgan Stanley suggests traders are positioning for further upside in the shares.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues to be active on the research front, with recent calls on names like Accenture, Cognizant, and Jefferies showing the firm is still shaping market expectations across financials and technology.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% 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 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,648,354,000 after buying an additional 3,364,080 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $249,710,000 after buying an additional 1,348,683 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $5.03 during trading on Monday, hitting $219.07. The company had a trading volume of 2,947,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,700,252. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $345.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $193.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.97. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $129.66 and a one year high of $220.60.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Twelve investment 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, Morgan Stanley presently 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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