TriaGen Wealth Management LLC Acquires 7,021 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• TriaGen Wealth Management increased its Morgan Stanley stake by 133.3% in the second quarter, purchasing 7,021 additional shares for a total holding of 12,289 shares valued at approximately $2.57 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 and revenue of $21.35 billion, exceeding analyst expectations; revenue rose 27.1% year over year. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $224.75.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase program, covering up to 5.6% of outstanding shares.

TriaGen Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 133.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,021 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 539,544 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $4,786,350,000 after purchasing an additional 534,708 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after purchasing an additional 524,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after purchasing an additional 87,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $243.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price 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. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $218.59 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $141.03 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $344.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $216.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.83.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.19%.

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

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Higher earnings expectations provide support. Erste Group Bank raised its earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley, reinforcing the view that strong investment-banking, wealth-management and trading activity could continue to improve profitability. Erste Group Bank Lifts Earnings Estimates for Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: Digital-asset strategy is expanding. Morgan Stanley is broadening its cryptocurrency platform with Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded products, staking capabilities and additional digital-asset services. The initiative could create new fee revenue and strengthen the firm’s competitive position in wealth management, although financial benefits may take time to develop. How Is Morgan Stanley Strengthening Its Position in Digital Assets?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage highlights growth opportunities. Morgan Stanley research remains constructive on areas including Sea’s spending and SpaceX’s valuation potential. These reports may raise the firm’s visibility and research-related activity but have limited direct impact on Morgan Stanley’s earnings. Morgan Stanley Sees Sea's Spending Building Earnings Power
• Negative Sentiment: Direct lending remains a concern. A recent analysis argues that Morgan Stanley’s direct-lending results show additional problems, potentially raising questions about credit quality, private-credit returns and the firm’s alternative-investments platform. This could temper enthusiasm around the broader earnings outlook. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending: New Results Just Showed More Problems

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.

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