Insider Selling: Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Insider Sells $2,120,758.50 in Stock

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) insider Eric Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $190.84 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $111.24 and a 52 week high of $194.59. The company has a market capitalization of $301.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.89%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s Q1 report showed a beat on both EPS and revenue, strong net margins and continued capital actions (dividend + repurchases), supporting earnings momentum and capital-return narrative. Morgan Stanley Strong Q1 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side firms raised price targets (Bank of America to $225; BMO/others to ~$220), which can attract buy interest and support higher valuations. BofA Lifts PT on Morgan Stanley BMO Capital Markets Increases MS PT to $220
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional crypto flows into Morgan Stanley’s Spot Bitcoin fund (MSBT) have been meaningful (reports of large weekly inflows / ~$100–$140M-sized allocations), boosting fee and AUM-growth expectations for wealth/asset-management. Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Fund Flows
• Positive Sentiment: Research call: Morgan Stanley analysts highlighted AI-driven opportunities (e.g., gaming could unlock ~$22B in profits), underscoring the firm’s influential research franchise that can drive trading flow and client engagement. MS Research: Gaming AI Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector tailwinds: Big-bank earnings across peers have lifted financials generally, which helps MS sentiment but is not company-specific upside. Financials Sector Lift
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: filings show Eric Grossman sold ~11.1k shares (~$2.1M) and additional insider disposals were reported — such sales can weigh on near-term sentiment even if for personal/liquidity reasons. MS Insider Sale

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $195.00 to $196.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $201.33.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.