Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC Has $12.80 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Elevation Point Wealth Partners increased its Morgan Stanley stake by 33.5% in the first quarter, bringing holdings to 77,770 shares valued at about $12.8 million.
• Morgan Stanley posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.43 versus estimates of $3.02 and revenue of $20.58 billion versus expectations of $19.23 billion, while revenue rose 16% year over year.
• The company also announced a $20 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, reinforcing shareholder returns; analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with a $210.50 price target.

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 33.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,770 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,520 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1%

MS stock opened at $214.27 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $135.26 and a one year high of $230.47. The stock has a market cap of $337.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $204.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.47. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. CICC Research lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Dbs Bank boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $210.50.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley secured conditional OCC approval for a trust charter, moving it closer to offering a federally supervised digital-asset trust and strengthening its long-term crypto custody strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary from market outlets highlighted Morgan Stanley’s favorable stance on traditional asset managers and bank stocks, which can support sentiment toward MS’s wealth-management and capital-markets model.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor articles also noted Morgan Stanley’s recently announced dividend hike and $20 billion buyback, reinforcing capital-return support for the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent posts discussed Morgan Stanley research on other companies, including price-target changes on stocks like American Airlines, Edison International, and Dominion Energy; these are informative but not direct catalysts for MS.

Morgan Stanley Company 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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