Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Sells 40,507 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 58.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 40,507 shares during the quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s analysts and strategists remain active and constructive across several key themes, including AI infrastructure, cloud spending, and global growth opportunities, which can support investor confidence in the firm’s research franchise and advisory relevance.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm was cited in coverage on India equities, where Morgan Stanley reiterated a bullish long-term view despite near-term headwinds, reinforcing its reputation as a well-followed macro and market strategist. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also drew attention for bullish calls on AI-related names such as Microsoft and other large-cap tech leaders, which may be supporting optimism around the bank’s equity research and wealth management insights. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company was also mentioned in connection with a sector rotation study from E*TRADE, but that release is more informational than directly stock-moving. Article Title

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $211.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $332.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $184.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.79. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $126.36 and a twelve month high of $212.11.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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 was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. CICC Research increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised 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, Argus raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve research 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.95.

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 dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 dated 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 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last quarter. 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.