QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $41.08 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management boosted its Morgan Stanley stake by 15.3% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 249,612 shares worth about $41.1 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.43 beating estimates and revenue of $20.58 billion topping expectations; revenue also rose 16% year over year.
• The firm also approved a $20 billion share buyback and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, reinforcing its shareholder-return strategy.

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 15.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 249,612 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 33,089 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $41,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 36.1% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 112,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,533,000 after buying an additional 29,842 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 5,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 1,536 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 18,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,989,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baer Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $435,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley won conditional OCC approval for a national digital asset trust bank, giving it a regulated path to offer crypto custody and related services to institutional clients.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary continues to highlight Morgan Stanley as a strong growth name, with Zacks pointing to the stock’s favorable growth profile and earnings-surprise history.
• Positive Sentiment: Another market note said Morgan Stanley paired its recent dividend increase with a $20 billion buyback, reinforcing capital-return strength and shareholder-friendly policies.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compared Morgan Stanley with JPMorgan and other big banks, but these were mostly valuation/style discussions rather than direct new fundamental catalysts.
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst note mentioned Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on EQT Corp., which is unrelated to MS’s own operations and is unlikely to be a major driver for Morgan Stanley shares.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

MS opened at $214.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $337.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The company's 50 day moving average is $205.33 and its 200-day moving average is $185.67. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $135.26 and a 1-year high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Argus increased their price target 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. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $210.50.

About Morgan Stanley

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.