Aureus Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Aureus Asset Management cut its Morgan Stanley stake by 17.3% in the first quarter, selling 9,831 shares and leaving it with 47,126 shares valued at about $7.76 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 beating estimates and revenue of $21.35 billion topping forecasts, while revenue rose 27.1% year over year.
• The company also boosted shareholder returns by authorizing a $20 billion share repurchase program and raising its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share, up from $1.00.

Aureus Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 17.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,831 shares during the quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s economics team raised its AI spending outlook sharply, saying global AI capex could reach $1.4 trillion by 2028; that reinforces the firm’s relevance in one of the market’s strongest investment themes and may support sentiment toward MS. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage also highlighted Morgan Stanley’s strong first-half performance versus peers, with analysts pointing to the bank’s solid quarterly results as evidence that Wall Street momentum may continue across the sector. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Separately, Morgan Stanley was cited in several sector notes and target updates across other companies, including AI, software, telecom, and industrial names, which keeps the firm visible but does not directly change MS fundamentals today.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.0%

MS opened at $218.66 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $136.17 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The business's 50 day moving average is $213.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.56. The firm has a market cap of $344.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The company's revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.50.

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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