Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by May Hill Capital LLC

May Hill Capital LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 102.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,463 shares during the quarter. May Hill Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.26.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $192.51 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $175.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.91. 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 stock has a market cap of $303.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $123.88 and a 52-week high of $197.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

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.