Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases 130,505 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 467.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 158,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 130,505 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $28,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of MS opened at $217.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $343.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $129.66 and a 1 year high of $220.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick said the firm sees room for substantial growth in its wealth-management business, highlighting a long runway in that segment and reinforcing the company’s long-term earnings story.
• Positive Sentiment: Trading in Morgan Stanley options picked up, with call volume running above average, which can signal increased investor optimism around the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also remained active on the research front, including new price-target actions on multiple companies and broader market commentary that pointed to a continued bull-market backdrop.
• Negative Sentiment: One Morgan Stanley analyst downgrade on Accenture and a cautious note on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending may slightly temper sentiment around the firm’s research calls, though these were not direct hits to Morgan Stanley’s core earnings outlook.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Dbs Bank upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

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.