LM Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

LM Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 82.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,018 shares during the quarter. LM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. E6 Portfolios LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $236,000. Ariadne Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Ariadne Wealth Management LP now owns 2,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 168,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,845,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brasada Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP now owns 35,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,374,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $187 from $179 while keeping a neutral rating, signaling improved expectations even though the new target still implies downside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s “wide awake” posture on M&A opportunities as the bank pursues a $10 trillion wealth-management ambition, which could support longer-term growth through acquisitions in advisors, private markets, and alternatives.
• Positive Sentiment: Additional reports emphasized Morgan Stanley’s continued strength in wealth management and its willingness to expand through inorganic growth, reinforcing the market’s view that the firm has multiple avenues for revenue growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article noted Morgan Stanley’s stock has climbed near its 52-week high, which may be drawing attention to valuation and limiting upside in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group slightly lowered its FY2026 EPS estimate to $11.97 from $12.00, a minor change that does not appear to have altered the broader bullish tone.
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary continues to frame Morgan Stanley’s valuation as stretched after a strong rally, and the stock’s proximity to its 52-week high may prompt profit-taking.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $214.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.84. The company has a market cap of $337.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $128.81 and a fifty-two week high of $219.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, 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 paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.