IFM Investors Pty Ltd Purchases 11,206 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 244,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,206 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $40,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 10,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Bayban boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.5% during the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 3,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,522.7% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,585,000 after purchasing an additional 100,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.3% in the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $209.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $329.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $203.93 and a 200 day moving average of $184.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $135.26 and a 1-year high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period last year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on MS to $240 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, signaling continued confidence in the bank’s upside. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to highlight strong capital-return potential, with recent coverage pointing to share repurchases and shareholder payouts as supportive for valuation. MarketBeat
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s strategists are making broad macro calls on oil, semiconductors, AI, and market broadening, keeping the firm in the headlines but not directly changing fundamentals for MS. MarketWatch
• Neutral Sentiment: The bank also received broader analyst attention and “moderate buy” style coverage, which supports the stock but does not appear to be a fresh catalyst by itself. American Banking News

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company 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.