Montag A & Associates Inc. Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Montag A & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,638 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.4% in the third quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 50,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,950,000 after acquiring an additional 12,804 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 679.8% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,527,000 after acquiring an additional 36,963 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 965,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,866,000 after purchasing an additional 67,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,411,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,337,066,000 after purchasing an additional 274,934 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Morgan Stanley (MS) to $255 from $214 and reiterated a buy rating, suggesting additional upside from current levels. UBS Group Boosts Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $255.00
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America also lifted its target on Morgan Stanley (MS) to $250 and kept a buy rating, reinforcing the bullish analyst tone ahead of earnings. Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Bank of America Corporation from $225.00 to $250.00.
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also focusing on Morgan Stanley’s Q2 earnings report due July 15, with expectations for solid revenue and EPS, while recent commentary has highlighted strength in Wall Street trading activity and capital markets as a potential tailwind for bank results.
• Positive Sentiment: Broader financial-sector optimism is helping sentiment, as analysts have been pointing to strong second-quarter earnings prospects for major U.S. banks and continued strength in trading and advisory activity.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own market commentary has also been active, including calls that investors may rotate toward hyperscalers and AI-linked names; that’s more of a broader strategy backdrop than a direct driver for MS itself. Trading surge, helped by SpaceX IPO, seen lifting Wall St banks’ second-quarter earnings

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0%

MS stock opened at $222.12 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $206.67 and its 200 day moving average is $186.38. The stock has a market cap of $350.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 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 $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. 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 company earned $2.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was 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 directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $214.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday. Twelve research 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, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $215.20.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.