Millennium Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $753,000 Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Millennium Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $170,037,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,933,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $466,326,000 after acquiring an additional 841,263 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,267,847,000 after acquiring an additional 822,120 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own recent commentary continues to sound constructive on markets, including a bullish call that the S&P 500 could reach 8,300 and a view that AI-related capital spending is supporting the U.S. economy. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The bank has also been raising or adjusting price targets on several companies tied to growth themes, reinforcing its credibility as a bullish market voice. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is also on Morgan Stanley’s own stock after a recent earnings beat and strong results, with a Zacks note asking why MS has risen since its last report. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a report highlighting Morgan Stanley’s midyear economic outlook, which emphasized “capex over consumption” and suggests the firm sees a mixed but resilient macro backdrop. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: Market sentiment is being weighed by rate and inflation concerns, with higher oil prices and a risk-off tone pressuring equities broadly — a backdrop that can hit financial stocks like MS even when fundamentals remain solid.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $192.51 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $123.88 and a 12 month high of $197.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $175.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.91.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.