Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 12,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,693,000.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.4% during the second quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Atlatl Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Dbs Bank raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.75.
Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley
Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s strategists said earnings growth is broadening beyond mega-cap technology, favoring quality companies, AI adopters, large-cap financials and consumer discretionary stocks. The outlook supports sentiment toward Morgan Stanley’s own wealth-management and capital-markets businesses. Morgan Stanley Favours Quality, AI Adopters and Financials as Earnings Growth Broadens
- Positive Sentiment: General Atlantic has revived plans for a potential IPO as soon as this year, with JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley involved. A renewed IPO market could increase Morgan Stanley’s underwriting, advisory and trading revenue opportunities. General Atlantic Reignites IPO Plans With JPMorgan, Goldman and Morgan Stanley
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley has reportedly increased exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded products, signaling a deeper push into digital-asset offerings. The move could broaden products and fee revenue, although it also introduces additional market and regulatory risk. Morgan Stanley’s Bigger Crypto ETF Bet Might Change The Case For Investing in Morgan Stanley
- Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley declared regular dividends on several preferred-stock series, payable in September and October. The payments reinforce the firm’s capital-return profile but do not directly change the outlook for common-stock earnings. Morgan Stanley preferred-stock dividend declarations
- Negative Sentiment: The firm also completed roughly $7.54 million of senior unsecured medium-term note offerings with fixed coupons of 4.650% to 5.200%. The issuance supports liquidity and funding flexibility, but adds interest expense and leverage exposure. Morgan Stanley’s Bigger Crypto ETF Bet Might Change The Case For Investing in Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley Stock Performance
Shares of MS stock opened at $218.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $344.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $141.03 and a 1-year high of $232.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.33.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.19%.
Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
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.
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