Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Buys 20,783 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 764,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,783 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 0.7% of Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $135,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 103.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after buying an additional 6,448 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,273,000 after buying an additional 9,056 shares during the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,043,000 after buying an additional 39,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, A4 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth $855,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was 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 directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’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 owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MS opened at $192.99 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $121.46 and a 52 week high of $194.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The company has a market capitalization of $304.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $172.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.64.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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 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%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues to receive a generally favorable analyst view, with reports noting an average “Moderate Buy” recommendation for the stock, which supports sentiment around MS shares. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley warned that a prolonged shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz could tighten global oil supply and push crude prices higher, highlighting rising geopolitical risk in energy markets. This is more of a macro call than a direct driver for MS earnings, but it underscores the bank’s active role in interpreting major commodity trends. Morgan Stanley warns oil market in ‘race against time’ as Strait of Hormuz remains shut amid Iran war
• Neutral Sentiment: The firm was also cited in coverage of Bitcoin holding above $80,000, with its ETF attracting strong inflows. That points to continued investor interest in Morgan Stanley’s expanding presence in digital-asset products, though the article is not a direct earnings catalyst. Bitcoin (BTC) Holds $80K Support as Traders Anticipate Next Rally Signal
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was mentioned positively by brokerages in coverage of Tata Consumer’s strong quarterly results, but the impact on MS is indirect and mainly reflects its equity research influence rather than a stock-specific catalyst. Tata Consumer shares soar 7% after better-than-expected Q4 earnings. Here’s what Morgan Stanley & other top brokerages say
• Neutral Sentiment: Similar coverage on Titan’s post-earnings drop showed Morgan Stanley among the brokerages still constructive on the company’s long-term outlook, again reinforcing MS’s role as a key institutional analyst rather than affecting its own fundamentals directly. Titan shares crash 6% after Q4 results. What are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bernstein, other brokerages saying?

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.