Sit Investment Associates Inc. Invests $3.78 Million in Morgan Stanley $MS

Sit Investment Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 21,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,782,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was 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 owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $223.69 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $130.90 and a 12-month high of $230.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $352.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $199.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.78.

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 analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Dbs Bank upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.35.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s investment management arm, together with Ridgeback Group, agreed to acquire Metra Living, a UK private rental business, for about £1.045 billion. The deal expands MS into residential rental assets and highlights its ability to deploy capital into new fee-generating businesses. Morgan Stanley Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also reacting to Morgan Stanley’s strong recent operating results: the firm posted Q1 EPS of $3.43, topping estimates, and revenue of $20.58 billion, also ahead of expectations, with year-over-year revenue growth of 16%. That supports the view that fundamentals remain solid after the stock’s big run. Morgan Stanley stock performance and earnings background
• Positive Sentiment: News that Morgan Stanley is part of the bank group working on possible OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs adds another potential catalyst, since high-profile tech listings could boost advisory and capital markets fees if they move forward. OpenAI, Anthropic IPOs Spark Battle Between Goldman And Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces also frame MS as a long-term momentum name and note that the stock has been trading near its highs, which may be attracting trend-following buyers rather than pointing to a single new catalyst. Why Morgan Stanley is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term

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.