Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Holdings Increased by abrdn plc

abrdn plc lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 24.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,385,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 275,183 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $129,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,159,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,074,718,000 after purchasing an additional 415,531 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,070,528,000 after acquiring an additional 277,909 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $956,566,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $904,714,000 after acquiring an additional 10,632,735 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $90.66. The company had a trading volume of 8,143,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,380,509. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.92. The stock has a market cap of $147.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,172,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.