Kraft Davis & Associates LLC Sells 160,980 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Kraft Davis & Associates cut its Morgan Stanley stake by 90.3% in the second quarter, selling 160,980 shares and retaining 17,329 shares valued at approximately $865,000.
• Morgan Stanley reported a strong quarter, with earnings of $3.46 per share and revenue of $21.35 billion, beating estimates; revenue rose 27.1% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and authorized a $20 billion share-buyback program, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $224.75.

Kraft Davis & Associates LLC cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 90.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,329 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 160,980 shares during the period. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Crown Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.7% in the second quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Rotation into big banks: Investors are favoring major financial institutions as higher-rate expectations support potential gains in net interest income and reinforce confidence in diversified banks such as Morgan Stanley. Expectations of Rising Rates and Worries About AI Have Investors Piling Into Big Bank Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Strong operating backdrop: Morgan Stanley’s latest reported quarter showed earnings of $3.46 per share and revenue of $21.35 billion, exceeding consensus estimates. Revenue increased 27.1% year over year, while return on equity reached 19.31%, supporting the stock’s fundamental appeal.
• Positive Sentiment: Potential cost efficiencies from AI: Morgan Stanley and other major banks are pressing law firms to reduce fees as AI makes routine legal work faster. Lower outside-counsel costs could modestly improve expense efficiency, although the direct financial impact is not yet quantified. Wall Street banks push Big Law to cut fees because of AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Client activity remains a watchpoint: E*TRADE’s monthly sector-rotation study provides insight into Morgan Stanley’s brokerage-client trading behavior, but the release did not identify a specific earnings or revenue catalyst for MS. E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley Releases Monthly Sector Rotation Study
• Negative Sentiment: Rates create volatility: The recent bond selloff pushed the 10-year Treasury yield to approximately 4.79%, raising concerns about market valuations and potentially increasing pressure on investment-banking and wealth-management activity. Morgan Stanley Stock Is Up Nearly 20% in 2026: What Will It Take to Break Through $250?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $243.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $211.89 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $334.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $146.29 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The firm's 50-day moving average is $215.68 and its 200 day moving average is $196.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 2.2%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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.

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