Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Candriam S.C.A.

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. increased its Morgan Stanley stake by 7.3% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 461,887 shares valued at about $76.0 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other institutional investors controlling 84.19% of Morgan Stanley’s stock, even as several insiders sold shares in recent months.
• Morgan Stanley has a new $20 billion share repurchase program in place and recently posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates while also paying a quarterly dividend.

Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 461,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 31,590 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $76,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,661 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 90.9% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,688 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,127,000 after purchasing an additional 15,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the second quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,807 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company'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 value of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners announced it entered exclusivity to acquire a majority stake in Nicollin Environnement, a French environmental services company. The move highlights MS’s private-markets and infrastructure investing capabilities beyond traditional banking. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners Enters Into Agreement to Acquire Majority Stake in Nicollin Environnement
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage continued to frame Morgan Stanley as a beneficiary of strong banking results heading into Q2 earnings season, with bank earnings generally expected to be solid and supporting sentiment for large financial stocks like MS. Bank Earnings Look Strong Ahead of Q2: ETFs in Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Separate commentary said Morgan Stanley warned that the AI chip rally may be losing momentum, but this is more a macro/sector view than a direct catalyst for MS shares. Morgan Stanley warns AI chip rally may be running out of steam

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, HSBC raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $215.20.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $222.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $208.58 and a 200 day moving average of $187.26. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $350.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $135.26 and a fifty-two week high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share 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 purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

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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