MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH Sells 7,685 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 29.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,685 shares during the quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media coverage are highlighting Morgan Stanley’s upcoming earnings as a potential catalyst, with expectations for strong trading and investment banking results. Morgan Stanley Stock Climbs: What's Happening Today?
• Positive Sentiment: Peers JPMorgan and Bank of America have already reported strong results, improving sentiment for the large-bank group heading into Morgan Stanley’s earnings. BANK OF AMERICA ($BAC) Releases Q2 2026 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary suggests U.S. banks could post broad earnings beats thanks to resilient capital markets activity and stronger wealth-management flows. US bank earnings could surprise to the upside as Bank of America highlights strong operating backdrop
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own analysts have also been active across other names, including raising price targets on Apple and Alnylam, reinforcing its influence in current market sentiment. Morgan Stanley Is Bullish on Apple Stock (AAPL), Expects Price Hikes to Boost Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary also notes Morgan Stanley itself may be trading at a stretched valuation ahead of earnings, which could limit upside if results disappoint. JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America: Three Major Banks, Three Different Verdicts

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $228.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $359.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 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. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $135.26 and a 1-year high of $232.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $209.98 and its 200-day moving average is $187.94.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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 business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. CICC Research lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned 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 price target of $215.20.

Morgan Stanley 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.