Cerity Partners LLC Has $48.95 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 275,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,193 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $48,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 103.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after buying an additional 6,448 shares in the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 52.6% in the 3rd quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,043,000 after buying an additional 39,104 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 679.8% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,527,000 after buying an additional 36,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 50,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,950,000 after buying an additional 12,804 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE MS opened at $206.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $326.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.23. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $128.81 and a one year high of $219.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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 $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Dbs Bank increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.95.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues to get constructive analyst attention, including recent pieces calling it a strong momentum name and a buy idea for investors. What Makes Morgan Stanley (MS) a Strong Momentum Stock: Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: The bank is being seen as a beneficiary of a potential AI IPO wave, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley expected to earn underwriting, trading, and advisory fees from offerings such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX. Forget the AI IPOs. Consider the Banks Bringing Them Public.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also announced a new AI-related move in wealth management, opening its workplace stock-plan platforms to clients’ AI agents, which could deepen client ties and improve efficiency. Morgan Stanley Expands AI Access to Power Workplace Wealth Hub
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported that Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities aims to grow retail wealth assets by $62 billion over the medium to long term, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s global wealth-management growth story. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities aims to grow retail wealth assets by $62 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Several Morgan Stanley-linked notes on other companies were mixed recently, including a price-target cut on General Mills and a cautionary underweight stance on Dell, showing the firm is still selective despite the positive MS narrative. Morgan Stanley Cuts General Mills (GIS) Forecast Again Amid Inflation Concerns

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.