State of Wisconsin Investment Board Has $115.58 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

State of Wisconsin Investment Board decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 651,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,088 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $115,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,736,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,710,000 after buying an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $170,037,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.2% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,933,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,326,000 after buying an additional 841,263 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE MS opened at $220.65 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.71. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $129.66 and a one year high of $222.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $348.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 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.

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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is leaning harder into wealth management as its core growth engine, with management publicly targeting $10 trillion in client assets. That supports the bull case for more durable, recurring revenue and a richer earnings mix. Morgan Stanley (MS) Is Chasing $10 Trillion In Wealth And A SpaceX Boost
• Positive Sentiment: The stock is also benefiting from a broader positive read-through on Morgan Stanley’s market calls, including optimism around AI/storage-related names that have helped sentiment across the firm’s research coverage. Morgan Stanley (MS) Pounds the Table on These Data Storage Names
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley disclosed a small increase in its voting stake in Singulus Technologies, but this is more of a portfolio-filings item than a direct catalyst for MS shares. Morgan Stanley Raises Stake in Singulus Technologies Above 3% Threshold
• Neutral Sentiment: The recent options flow in Morgan Stanley (MS) shows elevated call buying, which can add to short-term trading momentum even if it does not change the company’s fundamentals. Insider Sale: Chief Medical Officer of $BLTE Sells 540 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: A separate Morgan Stanley note downgraded Accenture and cut its target, reflecting the firm’s more cautious view on parts of the IT services market as AI spending crowds out traditional demand. That doesn’t hit MS directly, but it shows the bank is still making selective, sometimes cautious calls in research. Accenture downgraded by Morgan Stanley as AI spending crowds out IT service demand

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MS. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.