Morgan Stanley $MS Holdings Increased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,794,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 422,775 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,611,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,364,080 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was 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 directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Equities trading and investment banking both came in strong, helping drive the earnings beat and record profit.
• Positive Sentiment: Wealth management and investment management also posted solid growth, reinforcing the quality of the quarter and the durability of the franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its quarterly dividend by 15%, which signals management confidence in future cash generation.
• Positive Sentiment: Client assets topped $10 trillion, a sign that Morgan Stanley’s wealth platform continues to scale.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market sentiment is also helping financial stocks, with cooler inflation data supporting hopes for a friendlier rate backdrop.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts have reiterated constructive views on MS and peers after strong banking-sector earnings.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $228.52 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $210.69 and its 200-day moving average is $188.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $360.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $135.26 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” 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.