Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Trims Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Beacon Investment Advisory Services cut its Morgan Stanley stake by 4.6% in the second quarter, selling 11,001 shares and retaining 228,589 shares valued at approximately $47.8 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 84.19% of the stock.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.46 per share and revenue of $21.35 billion, exceeding analyst expectations; revenue rose 27.1% year over year. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $224.75.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase plan, allowing buybacks of up to 5.6% of outstanding shares.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 228,589 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,001 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 1.8% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $47,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Point Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the second quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 6,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 7,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 94.6% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 288 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 341,206 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $71,326,000 after purchasing an additional 13,552 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2%

MS stock opened at $216.23 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $141.03 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The business's 50-day moving average is $216.53 and its 200 day moving average is $191.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The stock has a market cap of $341.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in 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 typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley 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.

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