Burney Co. Sells 11,323 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Burney Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 31.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,323 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,437,334,000 after buying an additional 539,544 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after acquiring an additional 167,487 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after acquiring an additional 534,708 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after acquiring an additional 524,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% 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 Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MS. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $214.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.20.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $222.12 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $135.26 and a 52 week high of $230.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $206.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.38. The company has a market cap of $350.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors 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 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

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.