Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 13.3% in the first quarter, selling 27,875 shares and leaving it with 181,440 shares valued at about $29.86 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, beating analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue, with EPS of $3.46 and revenue of $21.35 billion, up 27.1% year over year.
• The company boosted shareholder returns by raising its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and authorizing a $20 billion stock buyback program, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy.”

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 13.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 181,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 27,875 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $29,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s recent earnings results were strong, with the firm beating estimates on both EPS and revenue and posting robust year-over-year growth, which supports the stock’s longer-term fundamental case.
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to receive constructive Wall Street commentary, including a “Moderate Buy” consensus and recent bullish analyst coverage tied to its earnings power and capital markets franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s wealth management unit attracting new assets tied to SpaceX IPO interest, which reinforces the strength of its wealth and investment management businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated market stories involving Morgan Stanley analyst calls on other stocks, plus broader AI/capex and earnings-driven volatility across large-cap tech and financials, may be influencing sentiment around MS indirectly.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $214.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $337.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $213.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.97. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $136.17 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 32.34%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.50.

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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