Bollard Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Bollard Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 217,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,307 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.0% of Bollard Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $38,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Powers Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.35.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $214.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $337.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.84. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $128.81 and a fifty-two week high of $219.16.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $187 from $179 while keeping a neutral rating, signaling improved expectations even though the new target still implies downside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s “wide awake” posture on M&A opportunities as the bank pursues a $10 trillion wealth-management ambition, which could support longer-term growth through acquisitions in advisors, private markets, and alternatives.
• Positive Sentiment: Additional reports emphasized Morgan Stanley’s continued strength in wealth management and its willingness to expand through inorganic growth, reinforcing the market’s view that the firm has multiple avenues for revenue growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article noted Morgan Stanley’s stock has climbed near its 52-week high, which may be drawing attention to valuation and limiting upside in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group slightly lowered its FY2026 EPS estimate to $11.97 from $12.00, a minor change that does not appear to have altered the broader bullish tone.
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary continues to frame Morgan Stanley’s valuation as stretched after a strong rally, and the stock’s proximity to its 52-week high may prompt profit-taking.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.