Franklin Resources Inc. Has $1.56 Billion Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,766,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 322,406 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,556,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% 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 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 sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $212.44 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $335.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $188.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.18. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $128.81 and a twelve month high of $219.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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 17.70%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named a lead underwriter for Anthropic’s IPO, reinforcing its position in major capital-markets mandates. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Land Anthropic IPO
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also expanded its wealth-management/crypto offering through a referral arrangement with Galaxy Digital, which could support longer-term client engagement and product breadth. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Galaxy Digital Announce Referral Capability for In-Kind Creation of Spot Crypto ETP Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Management continues to see strong opportunities in selected financials names, including a recent positive stance on peers such as UnitedHealth and other coverage names, underscoring active analyst engagement across the franchise. UnitedHealth Positioned As AI Leader: Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Media attention around Morgan Stanley’s bullish SpaceX revenue outlook and related IPO coverage keeps the firm in the spotlight, but this is more of a longer-dated franchise story than an immediate earnings driver. Market Chatter: Morgan Stanley Projects SpaceX’s Revenue Reaching $3.4 Trillion in 2040

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Dbs Bank increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.95.

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.