State of Wisconsin Investment Board Sells 13,088 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

State of Wisconsin Investment Board lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 651,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,088 shares during the quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $115,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $220.65 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $195.85 and its 200 day moving average is $181.71. 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 market capitalization of $348.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $129.66 and a fifty-two week high of $222.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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 Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Dbs Bank raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

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.