Lawood & Co. Invests $1.40 Million in Morgan Stanley $MS

Lawood & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,397,000. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.3% of Lawood & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Powers Advisory Group LLC raised its position in 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 worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in 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 worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its position in 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 worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, 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 value of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.26.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own recent commentary continues to sound constructive on markets, including a bullish call that the S&P 500 could reach 8,300 and a view that AI-related capital spending is supporting the U.S. economy. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The bank has also been raising or adjusting price targets on several companies tied to growth themes, reinforcing its credibility as a bullish market voice. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is also on Morgan Stanley’s own stock after a recent earnings beat and strong results, with a Zacks note asking why MS has risen since its last report. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a report highlighting Morgan Stanley’s midyear economic outlook, which emphasized “capex over consumption” and suggests the firm sees a mixed but resilient macro backdrop. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: Market sentiment is being weighed by rate and inflation concerns, with higher oil prices and a risk-off tone pressuring equities broadly — a backdrop that can hit financial stocks like MS even when fundamentals remain solid.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $192.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $175.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.91. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $123.88 and a 12-month high of $197.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.