Patten & Patten Inc. TN Has $4.50 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Patten & Patten Inc. TN lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,799 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $170,037,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.2% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,933,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $466,326,000 after buying an additional 841,263 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,267,847,000 after buying an additional 822,120 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 150.3% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,234,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,311,000 after buying an additional 741,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: DBS Bank raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $220 from $185, signaling more upside potential. DBS Bank price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank lifted FY2027 earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley, while keeping a Buy rating, reinforcing confidence in longer-term earnings power.
• Positive Sentiment: UBS also increased its Morgan Stanley price target to $214 from $196, adding to the wave of bullish revisions. UBS price target update

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Evercore raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.26.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $192.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $304.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $121.46 and a 1 year high of $194.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $172.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.64.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

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.