Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,059,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,871 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $188,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,736,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,683 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $170,037,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 841,263 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $211.07 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.79. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $126.36 and a twelve month high of $212.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s analysts and strategists remain active and constructive across several key themes, including AI infrastructure, cloud spending, and global growth opportunities, which can support investor confidence in the firm’s research franchise and advisory relevance.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm was cited in coverage on India equities, where Morgan Stanley reiterated a bullish long-term view despite near-term headwinds, reinforcing its reputation as a well-followed macro and market strategist. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also drew attention for bullish calls on AI-related names such as Microsoft and other large-cap tech leaders, which may be supporting optimism around the bank’s equity research and wealth management insights. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company was also mentioned in connection with a sector rotation study from E*TRADE, but that release is more informational than directly stock-moving. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Argus lifted their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.95.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.