Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC Buys 7,742 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 637.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,742 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 2,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 917,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,021,000 after acquiring an additional 247,186 shares during the last quarter. Hound Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $23,298,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 48.5% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 237,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,114,000 after purchasing an additional 77,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Manage LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 771.6% in the first quarter. Family Manage LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 16,242 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $214.41 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $214.36 and its 200 day moving average is $190.18. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $136.17 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $338.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.50.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Infrastructure expansion: Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners agreed to acquire Epic Energy, potentially expanding the firm’s exposure to infrastructure investing and strengthening its alternative-asset platform. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners to acquire Epic Energy
• Positive Sentiment: Strong positioning in AI and markets: Morgan Stanley strategists said companies adopting artificial intelligence could benefit from stronger profit margins, while the firm continues to favor high-quality megacap stocks. This reinforces Morgan Stanley’s role as a prominent adviser and source of market strategy during the AI-driven investment cycle. Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Says AI Adoption Key to Profit Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Constructive analyst visibility: Morgan Stanley remains bullish on Seagate and Western Digital, companies benefiting from AI-related storage demand. Continued high-profile research calls may support the firm’s equity-research franchise and trading activity. Seagate, Western Digital Slide Again. Morgan Stanley Still Pounding the Table
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum and ETF fee advantage: Morgan Stanley was described as a top long-term momentum stock by Zacks, and its Bitcoin ETF reportedly charges a lower sponsor fee than BlackRock’s comparable product. These developments could help sentiment toward its wealth-management and asset-management businesses. Why Morgan Stanley Is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term
• Neutral Sentiment: Talent departure: OpenAI hired former Morgan Stanley managing director Alisha Lehr for a private-equity-focused role. The move highlights demand for Morgan Stanley talent but represents a modest loss of experienced personnel. OpenAI’s Private Equity Ambitions Grow With Morgan Stanley Executive Hire
• Neutral Sentiment: Market concentration risk: Morgan Stanley warned that investors heavily concentrated in a small group of mega-cap technology stocks may face a shift in market leadership. The outlook could influence client positioning and trading volumes, but does not directly change Morgan Stanley’s fundamentals. Morgan Stanley Sees Shift Coming for Big Tech Investors

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.