Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Buys 3,022 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 193.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,022 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $814,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. VMS Asset Management Limited bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,663,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 23,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,190,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Avise Financial Cooperative Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $247,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 47,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,519,000 after acquiring an additional 3,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named a lead underwriter for Anthropic’s IPO, reinforcing its position in major capital-markets mandates. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Land Anthropic IPO
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also expanded its wealth-management/crypto offering through a referral arrangement with Galaxy Digital, which could support longer-term client engagement and product breadth. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Galaxy Digital Announce Referral Capability for In-Kind Creation of Spot Crypto ETP Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Management continues to see strong opportunities in selected financials names, including a recent positive stance on peers such as UnitedHealth and other coverage names, underscoring active analyst engagement across the franchise. UnitedHealth Positioned As AI Leader: Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Media attention around Morgan Stanley’s bullish SpaceX revenue outlook and related IPO coverage keeps the firm in the spotlight, but this is more of a longer-dated franchise story than an immediate earnings driver. Market Chatter: Morgan Stanley Projects SpaceX’s Revenue Reaching $3.4 Trillion in 2040

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. 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 research note 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 research note on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, CICC Research upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $212.44 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $335.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $128.81 and a 1-year high of $219.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $188.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.05.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

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.