Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Glenview Trust Co

Glenview Trust Co trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,293 shares during the quarter. Glenview Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,364,080 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during 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 buying an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is being viewed as Wall Street’s leading bank for AI debt deals, boosting optimism about investment-banking and financing revenue tied to data-center buildouts.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media reports point to continued strength in Morgan Stanley’s outlook, including an article noting that FY2026 EPS forecasts were lifted.
• Positive Sentiment: Separate commentary says Morgan Stanley remains constructive on multiple sectors, including semiconductors and AI-linked infrastructure, reinforcing its image as a well-positioned market bellwether. Article: Morgan Stanley becomes Wall Street’s top bank for AI debt deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is also being driven by general search interest and media mentions around Morgan Stanley, which can add to short-term trading momentum. Article: Morgan Stanley (MS) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Negative Sentiment: At the same time, Morgan Stanley recently downgraded several software names, including Adobe and Salesforce, which underscores ongoing concerns about AI-related disruption in parts of tech and may temper enthusiasm elsewhere in the market.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $216.34 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.27. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $341.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $136.17 and a 52-week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 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 19.51%. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.15 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. CICC Research increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Two research 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.50.

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.