PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 146,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,052,000. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 0.9% of PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators’ portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% during the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE:MS opened at $212.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $128.81 and a 1 year high of $219.16. The company has a market cap of $335.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $188.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.05.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 365,802 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.95.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named a lead underwriter for Anthropic’s IPO, reinforcing its position in major capital-markets mandates. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Land Anthropic IPO
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also expanded its wealth-management/crypto offering through a referral arrangement with Galaxy Digital, which could support longer-term client engagement and product breadth. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Galaxy Digital Announce Referral Capability for In-Kind Creation of Spot Crypto ETP Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Management continues to see strong opportunities in selected financials names, including a recent positive stance on peers such as UnitedHealth and other coverage names, underscoring active analyst engagement across the franchise. UnitedHealth Positioned As AI Leader: Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Media attention around Morgan Stanley’s bullish SpaceX revenue outlook and related IPO coverage keeps the firm in the spotlight, but this is more of a longer-dated franchise story than an immediate earnings driver. Market Chatter: Morgan Stanley Projects SpaceX’s Revenue Reaching $3.4 Trillion in 2040

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.