iA Global Asset Management Inc. Buys 100,272 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1,522.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 100,272 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $17,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $209.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $329.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, 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 quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $203.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.99. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $135.26 and a fifty-two week high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. 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 is currently 36.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.50.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on MS to $240 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, signaling continued confidence in the bank’s upside. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to highlight strong capital-return potential, with recent coverage pointing to share repurchases and shareholder payouts as supportive for valuation. MarketBeat
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s strategists are making broad macro calls on oil, semiconductors, AI, and market broadening, keeping the firm in the headlines but not directly changing fundamentals for MS. MarketWatch
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank also received broader analyst attention and “moderate buy” style coverage, which supports the stock but does not appear to be a fresh catalyst by itself. American Banking News

Morgan Stanley 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.