VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Sells 222,400 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 34.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 432,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 222,400 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $76,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $170,037,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,933,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,326,000 after acquiring an additional 841,263 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,267,847,000 after acquiring an additional 822,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 150.3% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,234,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,311,000 after acquiring an additional 741,651 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its S&P 500 outlook sharply, saying the market can keep climbing even without Fed rate cuts; that has helped lift sentiment around the firm’s macro calls and market strategy franchise. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The bank said the S&P 500 could reach 8,300 over the next 12 months, reinforcing optimism that Morgan Stanley’s strategists are seeing durable equity upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also focusing on Morgan Stanley’s growing crypto push, including lower-fee digital-asset trading aimed at attracting retail users, which could support long-term platform growth if adoption builds. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF continues to draw inflows with no reported outflows in its first month, suggesting early traction in the bank’s crypto-linked product suite. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles are simply renewed stock-forecast or “most searched” pieces about MS, which usually reflect investor interest rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage also highlighted Morgan Stanley’s warnings on oil and inflation, but those calls are more about the macro backdrop than a direct change to Morgan Stanley’s own earnings outlook. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was 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 $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Dbs Bank raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.26.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $191.83 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $123.88 and a one year high of $194.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $173.92 and a 200-day moving average of $174.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $302.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

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.