Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 455,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,050 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $80,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $170,037,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,933,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,326,000 after buying an additional 841,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,267,847,000 after buying an additional 822,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley 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 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 $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Dbs Bank increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.26.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own analysis of broader markets remains constructive, with strategists saying equities still have upside support from AI-driven growth and employment trends, even as they flag recession and bond-market risks. That keeps the firm visible in the ongoing AI-led market narrative. Morgan Stanley Remains Bullish on Equities While Flagging Recession Risks Ahead
• Positive Sentiment: The bank also helped fuel bullish sentiment in semiconductors by raising its revenue estimate for Nvidia ahead of earnings and highlighting continued upside potential, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s influence in high-profile growth themes that investors are still rewarding. Morgan Stanley Lifts Nvidia Stock (NVDA) Price Target Ahead of Q1 Earnings, Sees ‘Continued Upside to Numbers’
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent market headlines show Morgan Stanley-linked commentary spanning everything from AI infrastructure to energy and utilities, suggesting the bank is well positioned around major investor themes, though none of these articles directly change MS fundamentals today.
• Negative Sentiment: At the same time, the firm warned that a bond selloff could trigger a meaningful stock-market correction. That caution may temper enthusiasm and explains why any move higher in Morgan Stanley (MS) is modest rather than explosive. Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Warns Stock Rally at Risk From Bond Rout

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MS stock opened at $192.71 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $176.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $123.88 and a fifty-two week 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 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 analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid 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 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

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.