Rep. Bruce Westerman Purchases Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Representative Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas) recently bought shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). In a filing disclosed on April 16th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Morgan Stanley stock on March 3rd. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “FISHER IRA” account.

Representative Bruce Westerman also recently made the following trade(s):

  • Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, Société Européenne (OTCMKTS:LVMUY) on 4/2/2025.
  • Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Sony Group (NYSE:SONY) on 3/24/2025.
  • Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE:MUFG) on 3/21/2025.
  • Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of BP (NYSE:BP) on 3/21/2025.
  • Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) on 3/20/2025.
  • Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) on 3/20/2025.
  • Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) on 3/20/2025.
  • Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Visa (NYSE:V) on 3/20/2025.
  • Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) on 3/20/2025.
  • Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) on 3/20/2025.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE MS traded up $1.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $109.06. The company had a trading volume of 5,231,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,655,480. The company has a market cap of $175.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $120.10 and its 200-day moving average is $124.28. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.36 and a one year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,665 shares of company stock worth $5,288,079 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,845,895,000 after acquiring an additional 696,646 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,240,089,000 after buying an additional 604,024 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,870,683,000 after acquiring an additional 428,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.50.

Get Our Latest Report on MS

About Representative Westerman

Bruce Westerman (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2015. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Westerman (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Westerman earned his BSBAGE in biological and agricultural engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1990 and his MF in forestry from Yale University in 2001. His professional experience includes working as a plant engineer for Riceland Foods and an engineer/forester for Mid-South Engineering Company.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.

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