Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Caprock Group LLC

Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Powers Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $190.84 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $111.24 and a twelve month high of $194.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The company has a market capitalization of $301.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $169.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.46.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.89%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% 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 110,444 shares of company stock valued at $20,665,049. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.33.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s Q1 report showed a beat on both EPS and revenue, strong net margins and continued capital actions (dividend + repurchases), supporting earnings momentum and capital-return narrative. Morgan Stanley Strong Q1 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side firms raised price targets (Bank of America to $225; BMO/others to ~$220), which can attract buy interest and support higher valuations. BofA Lifts PT on Morgan Stanley BMO Capital Markets Increases MS PT to $220
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional crypto flows into Morgan Stanley’s Spot Bitcoin fund (MSBT) have been meaningful (reports of large weekly inflows / ~$100–$140M-sized allocations), boosting fee and AUM-growth expectations for wealth/asset-management. Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Fund Flows
• Positive Sentiment: Research call: Morgan Stanley analysts highlighted AI-driven opportunities (e.g., gaming could unlock ~$22B in profits), underscoring the firm’s influential research franchise that can drive trading flow and client engagement. MS Research: Gaming AI Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector tailwinds: Big-bank earnings across peers have lifted financials generally, which helps MS sentiment but is not company-specific upside. Financials Sector Lift
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: filings show Eric Grossman sold ~11.1k shares (~$2.1M) and additional insider disposals were reported — such sales can weigh on near-term sentiment even if for personal/liquidity reasons. MS Insider Sale

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.