K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Has $6.70 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• K.J. Harrison & Partners increased its Morgan Stanley stake by 47% in the first quarter, bringing its position to 40,731 shares worth about $6.7 million.
• Morgan Stanley’s latest earnings beat expectations, with quarterly EPS of $3.43 versus $3.02 expected and revenue of $20.58 billion, up 16% year over year.
• The company boosted shareholder returns with a $1.00 quarterly dividend and a newly authorized $20 billion share buyback program, while analysts currently have a Hold consensus target of $210.50.

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 47.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,731 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,022 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.1% of K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Evercore lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $210.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last ninety days. 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 52-week low of $135.26 and a 52-week 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $205.33 and a 200-day moving average of $185.67.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors 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 reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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.

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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