Blue Water Asset Management Purchases New Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Blue Water Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% during the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $192.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $303.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $175.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.91. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $123.88 and a 1-year high of $197.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Trending Headlines about 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MS. Argus increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.