World Investment Advisors Acquires 7,272 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 34.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,272 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,343,523,000 after purchasing an additional 167,487 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,494,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,893,590,000 after purchasing an additional 448,960 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,267,847,000 after purchasing an additional 822,120 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,712,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,831,000 after purchasing an additional 354,871 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $194.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.78. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $123.88 and a 52 week high of $197.50. The company has a market capitalization of $306.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.22. 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 (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. HSBC raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Dbs Bank raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.26.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lifted its S&P 500 forecast to 8,000 for year-end and 8,300 over 12 months, highlighting a strong earnings environment and AI-led market strength. Morgan Stanley Hikes S&P 500 Target to 8,300 on AI Boom
• Positive Sentiment: The bank reiterated a bullish view on stocks and said market risks are already largely priced in, which supports a constructive outlook for its equity-related businesses. Here’s Why Morgan Stanley (MS) Remains Bullish on Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also appeared in several analyst notes on other companies, including price-target raises on names tied to AI, semis, and industrial energy themes, which keeps the firm visible as a leading market influencer.

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.