Signet Private Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 4,488 Morgan Stanley $MS

Signet Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $797,000. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 0.8% of Signet Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after buying an additional 3,661 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 90.9% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after buying an additional 7,688 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,127,000 after buying an additional 15,623 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the second quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,805,000 after buying an additional 3,807 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Argus increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE MS opened at $206.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $326.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $191.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.23. 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 has a 52 week low of $128.81 and a 52 week high of $219.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues to get constructive analyst attention, including recent pieces calling it a strong momentum name and a buy idea for investors. What Makes Morgan Stanley (MS) a Strong Momentum Stock: Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: The bank is being seen as a beneficiary of a potential AI IPO wave, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley expected to earn underwriting, trading, and advisory fees from offerings such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX. Forget the AI IPOs. Consider the Banks Bringing Them Public.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also announced a new AI-related move in wealth management, opening its workplace stock-plan platforms to clients’ AI agents, which could deepen client ties and improve efficiency. Morgan Stanley Expands AI Access to Power Workplace Wealth Hub
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported that Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities aims to grow retail wealth assets by $62 billion over the medium to long term, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s global wealth-management growth story. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities aims to grow retail wealth assets by $62 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Several Morgan Stanley-linked notes on other companies were mixed recently, including a price-target cut on General Mills and a cautionary underweight stance on Dell, showing the firm is still selective despite the positive MS narrative. Morgan Stanley Cuts General Mills (GIS) Forecast Again Amid Inflation Concerns

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.