Cullinan Associates Inc. Trims Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Cullinan Associates Inc. trimmed its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 42.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,449 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Trust Co increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.1% during the first quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 177,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,215,000 after acquiring an additional 14,780 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,799,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,187,000 after buying an additional 266,445 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the first quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 30,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,072,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 5,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 461,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,013,000 after purchasing an additional 31,590 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was 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 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $222.21. The stock had a trading volume of 3,617,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,448,374. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.26. 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 one year low of $135.26 and a one year high of $230.47. The company has a market capitalization of $350.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. 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 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

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

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners announced it entered exclusivity to acquire a majority stake in Nicollin Environnement, a French environmental services company. The move highlights MS’s private-markets and infrastructure investing capabilities beyond traditional banking. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners Enters Into Agreement to Acquire Majority Stake in Nicollin Environnement
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage continued to frame Morgan Stanley as a beneficiary of strong banking results heading into Q2 earnings season, with bank earnings generally expected to be solid and supporting sentiment for large financial stocks like MS. Bank Earnings Look Strong Ahead of Q2: ETFs in Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Separate commentary said Morgan Stanley warned that the AI chip rally may be losing momentum, but this is more a macro/sector view than a direct catalyst for MS shares. Morgan Stanley warns AI chip rally may be running out of steam

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.