Gradient Investments LLC Sells 8,856 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Gradient Investments reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 2.7%, selling 8,856 shares and retaining 318,659 shares valued at approximately $66.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 beating estimates by $0.57 and revenue rising 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase program; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $224.75.

Gradient Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 318,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,856 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 0.9% of Gradient Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $66,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares during the period. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,260,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 646,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $116,102,000 after acquiring an additional 65,246 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $8,854,000. Finally, Arsenal Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $814,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Citigroup increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

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

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

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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