FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Sells 2,760 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 46.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,760 shares during the period. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth 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. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley won conditional OCC approval for a national digital asset trust bank, giving it a regulated path to offer crypto custody and related services to institutional clients.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary continues to highlight Morgan Stanley as a strong growth name, with Zacks pointing to the stock’s favorable growth profile and earnings-surprise history.
• Positive Sentiment: Another market note said Morgan Stanley paired its recent dividend increase with a $20 billion buyback, reinforcing capital-return strength and shareholder-friendly policies.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compared Morgan Stanley with JPMorgan and other big banks, but these were mostly valuation/style discussions rather than direct new fundamental catalysts.
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst note mentioned Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on EQT Corp., which is unrelated to MS’s own operations and is unlikely to be a major driver for Morgan Stanley shares.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE MS opened at $214.27 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $135.26 and a 12 month high of $230.47. 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 of $205.33 and a 200-day moving average of $185.67. The company has a market cap of $337.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MS shares. 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 report on Tuesday, May 19th. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

About Morgan Stanley

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.