Metis Global Partners LLC Has $8.73 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Metis Global Partners LLC decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,162 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $206.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $326.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.23. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $128.81 and a 52-week high of $219.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. CICC Research raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Argus raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.95.

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.