Twin Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 28.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,109 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Powers Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $565,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $197.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $311.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $177.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $123.88 and a 1-year high of $198.07.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is reportedly one of the lead banks working with OpenAI on a confidential IPO filing, positioning the firm to benefit from underwriting, advisory, and related capital-markets fees if the deal moves forward. OpenAI readies IPO filing to list as soon as September
• Positive Sentiment: Separate coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s involvement in AI-related dealmaking and broader technology M&A, reinforcing the view that the bank is well positioned to capture activity tied to the AI investment cycle. Morgan Stanley Sees AI Deals Spreading Across Chips, Power, and Data Centers
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines were mostly commentary or positioning updates, including notes on Morgan Stanley’s outlook for Fed rate cuts and its tighter device/security policy for China travel, which are unlikely to move the stock on their own.

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.