Morgan Stanley $MS Stake Boosted by Modern Wealth Management LLC

Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 221.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,882 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,812 shares during the quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 679.8% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,527,000 after buying an additional 36,963 shares in the last quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,260,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 646,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $116,102,000 after acquiring an additional 65,246 shares during the period. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $8,854,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

More Morgan Stanley News

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. CICC Research upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Dbs Bank raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of MS stock opened at $214.11 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $136.17 and a 1 year high of $232.25. The stock has a market cap of $337.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. The business's fifty day moving average is $213.93 and its 200-day moving average is $189.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.34%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors 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.

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