Lido Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 255,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,150 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $42,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% during the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.0%

MS stock opened at $210.63 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $127.34 and a twelve month high of $217.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market cap of $332.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $186.82 and a 200 day moving average of $178.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.95.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last ninety days. 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 and Goldman Sachs were reportedly chosen to lead Anthropic’s IPO, a potentially high-profile assignment that could bring underwriting fees, trading activity, and prestige if the deal moves forward. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Land Anthropic IPO
• Positive Sentiment: A separate report said Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital led a $33 million growth financing for Subtle Medical, reinforcing the firm’s active role in funding AI-related and healthcare technology opportunities. Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital Leads $33 Million Growth Financing For Subtle Medical
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also published macro commentary warning that Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s first policy meeting could jolt foreign-exchange markets, a view that matters more for the broader market backdrop than for MS directly. Warsh’s Fed Debut Is a Key Risk for FX, Morgan Stanley Says

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.