BXM Wealth LLC Trims Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• BXM Wealth LLC sharply cut its Morgan Stanley stake by 86.1% in the first quarter, leaving it with 1,256 shares worth about $207,000.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.43 beating expectations and revenue of $20.58 billion topping estimates; revenue rose 16% year over year.
• The company also announced a $20 billion share buyback and continued its dividend, while analysts remain broadly constructive with an average Moderate Buy rating and $210.50 price target.

BXM Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 86.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,256 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,750 shares during the period. BXM Wealth LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Networth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3,814.3% during the 1st quarter. Networth Advisors LLC now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $838,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 39.8% in the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 116,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,141,000 after purchasing an additional 33,108 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.8% during the first quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 1,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 105.9% during the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 9,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 5,132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MS opened at $212.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $135.26 and a 1 year high of $230.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.79. The firm has a market cap of $334.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $240 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, signaling confidence in further upside. MarketScreener article
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a higher quarterly dividend and a new $20 billion share repurchase authorization, which should appeal to income and capital-return investors. Yahoo Finance article
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment around Morgan Stanley has also been helped by broader optimism on IPOs and equity issuance, which could support the firm’s investment banking franchise if deal activity stays strong into 2026. Stocktwits article
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is being cited in several third-party articles, including commentary on broader market themes and sector stock picks, which adds visibility but does not appear to be a direct earnings catalyst. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes that Morgan Stanley continues to make stock calls across utilities, beverage, and other sectors, reinforcing its role as a market-moving analyst but not changing MS fundamentals by itself.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on MS shares. HSBC upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Dbs Bank lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.50.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.