Geremia Financial Services LLC Purchases New Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Geremia Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 40,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,583,000. Morgan Stanley makes up 5.4% of Geremia Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

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

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’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 transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MS stock opened at $214.27 on Friday. 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 $135.26 and a 52-week high of $230.47. The company has a market capitalization of $337.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $205.33 and its 200 day moving average is $185.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley won conditional OCC approval for a national digital asset trust bank, giving it a regulated path to offer crypto custody and related services to institutional clients.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary continues to highlight Morgan Stanley as a strong growth name, with Zacks pointing to the stock’s favorable growth profile and earnings-surprise history.
• Positive Sentiment: Another market note said Morgan Stanley paired its recent dividend increase with a $20 billion buyback, reinforcing capital-return strength and shareholder-friendly policies.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles compared Morgan Stanley with JPMorgan and other big banks, but these were mostly valuation/style discussions rather than direct new fundamental catalysts.
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst note mentioned Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on EQT Corp., which is unrelated to MS’s own operations and is unlikely to be a major driver for Morgan Stanley shares.

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.