Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 312,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $55,464,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wolfe Research cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $201.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $123.88 and a 12-month high of $203.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $317.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22.

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 return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha flagged that Morgan Stanley was upgraded to Buy after its strong first-quarter results, reinforcing the view that recent earnings momentum is still supporting the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage also noted that Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) ahead of the GTA VI release, underscoring continued active equity-research influence and a generally constructive tone from the bank’s analysts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own recent stock commentary said MS has delivered a strong one-year rally, with investors still debating valuation versus earnings power rather than reacting to any single new company-specific surprise. Article Title

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.