Orange Investment Advisors Inc. Has $7.20 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Orange Investment Advisors reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 16.5% in Q1, selling 8,640 shares and ending with 43,748 shares worth about $7.2 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $3.43 and revenue of $20.58 billion, both above expectations, while revenue rose 16% year over year.
• The company’s board approved a $20 billion share repurchase program and raised the quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share, reinforcing confidence in capital returns to shareholders.

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,748 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,640 shares during the period. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,437,334,000 after acquiring an additional 539,544 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after acquiring an additional 167,487 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,786,350,000 after acquiring an additional 534,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,441,505,000 after acquiring an additional 524,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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: Raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and reapproved a $20 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence in capital strength and shareholder returns.
• Positive Sentiment: Continued to highlight strength in its core franchise, with recent earnings showing strong revenue and profit growth and analysts still expecting double-digit earnings growth into the next quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles also quote Morgan Stanley strategists and analysts on broader market themes, including the tech selloff and AI trade, but these comments are not direct operating updates for MS.
• Negative Sentiment: Private-credit redemption pressure is weighing on sentiment, as investors worry that withdrawal limits in Morgan Stanley’s fund could be a sign of broader stress in the sector.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:MS opened at $212.85 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $135.26 and a one year high of $230.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $335.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $203.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.55.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business 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 is presently 36.23%.

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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