Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Xcel Wealth Management LLC

Xcel Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,315 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for 2.0% of Xcel Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Xcel Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,354,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364,080 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,844 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,710,000 after buying an additional 1,348,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $221.09 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $135.26 and a 1-year high of $230.47. The stock has a market cap of $348.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley announced a new $20 billion stock buyback authorization and raised its quarterly dividend, reinforcing confidence in balance-sheet strength and future cash generation.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lifted its price target on Morgan Stanley to $225, suggesting modest upside from current levels and helping support investor sentiment.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also received a tenth consecutive “Outstanding” rating from the OCC for community reinvestment activities, a reputational plus for the banking franchise.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles noted broad banker strength after the Fed stress test, which could provide a favorable backdrop for Morgan Stanley and peers through dividend and buyback expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s private-credit fund withdrawal caps, but that appears more like a sector liquidity issue than a direct operating setback for MS today.
• Negative Sentiment: Some private-credit headlines may keep pressure on financials with alternatives exposure, as investors worry about redemption risk and liquidity conditions across the sector.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.50.

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.