Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Buys 3,432 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 111,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,432 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $19,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Powers Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: CICC Research lifted its price target on Morgan Stanley (MS) to $200 and reiterated an Outperform view, reinforcing bullish sentiment from analysts. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s strategists said the stock market can still benefit from AI-driven growth, but they also warned that a bond-market selloff could pressure risk assets and trigger a broader pullback. Financial Post
• Neutral Sentiment: Another Morgan Stanley note said the Fed may stay on hold before cutting rates again in 2027, which reflects a measured macro view rather than a direct company-specific catalyst. TheStreet

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.95.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’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 owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $189.58 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $176.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.35. 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 has a 52-week low of $123.88 and a 52-week high of $197.50. The stock has a market cap of $299.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results 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 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 posted $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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