TriaGen Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

TriaGen Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 133.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,021 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% in the second quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,724,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, First United Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $218.59 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $216.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.83. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $141.03 and a 1 year high of $232.25. The stock has a market cap of $344.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.19%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Dbs Bank upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.75.

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.