Geremia Financial Services LLC Purchases New Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Geremia Financial Services LLC opened a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter, buying 40,000 shares worth about $6.58 million. The stake now represents 5.4% of its portfolio and is its 10th-largest holding.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.43 per share and revenue of $20.58 billion, both above analyst expectations. Revenue rose 16% year over year, and analysts currently expect full-year EPS of 11.87.
• The company’s board authorized a $20 billion share buyback and it recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, or $4.00 annualized. Morgan Stanley’s stock also has mixed but generally cautious Wall Street sentiment, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $210.50.

Geremia Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 40,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,583,000. Morgan Stanley comprises 5.4% of Geremia Financial Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $214.27 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $135.26 and a 1 year high of $230.47. The company has a market capitalization of $337.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $205.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.67. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley won conditional OCC approval for a national digital asset trust bank, giving it a regulated path to offer crypto custody and related services to institutional clients.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary continues to highlight Morgan Stanley as a strong growth name, with Zacks pointing to the stock’s favorable growth profile and earnings-surprise history.
• Positive Sentiment: Another market note said Morgan Stanley paired its recent dividend increase with a $20 billion buyback, reinforcing capital-return strength and shareholder-friendly policies.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compared Morgan Stanley with JPMorgan and other big banks, but these were mostly valuation/style discussions rather than direct new fundamental catalysts.
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst note mentioned Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on EQT Corp., which is unrelated to MS’s own operations and is unlikely to be a major driver for Morgan Stanley shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Dbs Bank boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $210.50.

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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