S Harris Financial Group LLC Invests $773,000 in Morgan Stanley $MS

S Harris Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $773,000. Morgan Stanley makes up about 0.7% of S Harris Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EJMK Ventures LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $409,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $341,000. CFO Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $533,000. Tobam raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 507.8% in the fourth quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 1,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Dbs Bank raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $223.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $130.90 and a 1-year high of $230.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $199.10 and its 200-day moving average is $182.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s investment management arm, together with Ridgeback Group, agreed to acquire Metra Living, a UK private rental business, for about £1.045 billion. The deal expands MS into residential rental assets and highlights its ability to deploy capital into new fee-generating businesses. Morgan Stanley Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also reacting to Morgan Stanley’s strong recent operating results: the firm posted Q1 EPS of $3.43, topping estimates, and revenue of $20.58 billion, also ahead of expectations, with year-over-year revenue growth of 16%. That supports the view that fundamentals remain solid after the stock’s big run. Morgan Stanley stock performance and earnings background
• Positive Sentiment: News that Morgan Stanley is part of the bank group working on possible OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs adds another potential catalyst, since high-profile tech listings could boost advisory and capital markets fees if they move forward. OpenAI, Anthropic IPOs Spark Battle Between Goldman And Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces also frame MS as a long-term momentum name and note that the stock has been trading near its highs, which may be attracting trend-following buyers rather than pointing to a single new catalyst. Why Morgan Stanley is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This 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 ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.