Abner Herrman & Brock LLC Has $30.31 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Abner Herrman & Brock LLC reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 8.1% in the second quarter, retaining 145,011 shares valued at approximately $30.31 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of Morgan Stanley.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $224.75; several firms recently raised their targets to between $195 and $225.
• Morgan Stanley reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 and revenue of $21.35 billion, while also authorizing a $20 billion share buyback and raising its quarterly dividend to $1.15.

Abner Herrman & Brock LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 145,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,711 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 2.9% of Abner Herrman & Brock LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $30,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MS. Dbs Bank boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Morgan Stanley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.75.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley hired Adam Kweskin, a diversified-industries banker from Bank of America, to join its Global Industrials Investment Banking Group. The addition could strengthen the firm’s dealmaking capacity and support investment-banking fees if corporate activity remains robust. Morgan Stanley hires BofA’s Kweskin to cover diversified industries
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted improving capital-markets conditions and continued strength in Morgan Stanley’s wealth-management business, reinforcing the investment case for its more diversified revenue mix. Why Is Wealth Management Anchoring Morgan Stanley?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley-led banks are reportedly preparing to distribute approximately $15 billion of debt associated with a Google-backed Anthropic data center. The transaction underscores Morgan Stanley’s opportunity to generate fees from the rapidly expanding artificial-intelligence infrastructure financing market. Morgan Stanley-led banks to offload debt tied to Anthropic data center
• Neutral Sentiment: Approval of a key element of Morgan Stanley’s proposed billion-dollar Dallas regional hub represents a long-term investment in its operating footprint, though the project is not expected to materially affect near-term earnings. Morgan Stanley’s possible downtown hub gets sign approval
• Neutral Sentiment: The firm’s second-quarter Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund update provides additional visibility into its private-credit platform, but the available report does not include enough detail to determine a meaningful impact on MS valuation. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Posts Q2 2026 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Another Morgan Stanley banker reportedly moved to Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC, highlighting the ongoing risk of losing experienced dealmakers as global energy and investment activity intensifies. Another Morgan Stanley Banker Lands Top Investment Role at ADNOC

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of MS opened at $216.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $341.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $141.03 and a 1-year high of $232.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $216.53 and a 200 day moving average of $191.84.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.19%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.

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