Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Acquires 11,210 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 49.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,210 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 679.8% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,000 after buying an additional 36,963 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 965,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,866,000 after buying an additional 67,613 shares in the last quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,260,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 646,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,102,000 after acquiring an additional 65,246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $228.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $359.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $209.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.94. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $135.26 and a one year high of $232.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

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.