Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Purchases 5,132 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 105.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,132 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Dbs Bank increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. HSBC upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Evercore lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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 this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:MS opened at $212.16 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $135.26 and a 12-month high of $230.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $334.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $240 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, signaling confidence in further upside. MarketScreener article
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a higher quarterly dividend and a new $20 billion share repurchase authorization, which should appeal to income and capital-return investors. Yahoo Finance article
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment around Morgan Stanley has also been helped by broader optimism on IPOs and equity issuance, which could support the firm’s investment banking franchise if deal activity stays strong into 2026. Stocktwits article
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is being cited in several third-party articles, including commentary on broader market themes and sector stock picks, which adds visibility but does not appear to be a direct earnings catalyst. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes that Morgan Stanley continues to make stock calls across utilities, beverage, and other sectors, reinforcing its role as a market-moving analyst but not changing MS fundamentals by itself.

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.