Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Purchases 22,367 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 684,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,367 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $121,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 38,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,809,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 216.3% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 5,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 3,962 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 42,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,860 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total value of $3,691,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: MS launched the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), the first spot Bitcoin ETF issued by a major U.S. bank and priced with a very low 0.14% fee — a distribution advantage to Morgan Stanley’s ~16,000 financial advisors and a potential new AUM/fee stream. Bitcoin ETF Era Expands — Article
• Positive Sentiment: MSBT attracted ~$30–34M of inflows/trading on its first day — an encouraging initial demand signal that should help AUM growth over time if distribution converts into sustained flows. First-day inflows — Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 earnings are due April 15; consensus previews expect robust trading and IB fee strength (Zacks highlights ~$19.6B revenue and ~$3.08 EPS consensus). Results — and management comments on trading, IB pipeline, and wealth- and ETF-related flows — are the next major catalysts. Q1 preview — Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are actively reworking forecasts and price targets ahead of Q1 (upgrades and downgrades both appear). That creates mixed near-term sentiment and volatility as the street re-prices MS on updated trading/wealth assumptions. Analyst revisions — Article
• Negative Sentiment: MS’s low-fee Bitcoin ETF could spark broader fee competition across issuers; analysts warn a fee war may compress margins for ETF providers and asset managers — an industry headwind if sustained. That dynamic may pressure perceived long-term profitability from the ETF channel. Fee war concerns — Article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, January 16th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $196.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.94.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE MS opened at $177.57 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $168.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock has a market cap of $280.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.19. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $102.89 and a 12 month high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

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.