Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Purchased by Vestor Capital LLC

Vestor Capital LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 55,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,450,000 after purchasing an additional 6,353 shares during the period. Palacios Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the third quarter. Palacios Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Clear Wave Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 180.9% in the third quarter. Clear Wave Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 12,398 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% in the third quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 28,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accuvest Global Advisors grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accuvest Global Advisors now owns 1,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $217.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.81.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Vinyl Equity adds tools for cap-table management, equity administration and share transfers across private and public markets. The acquisition also includes digital-asset infrastructure, supporting Morgan Stanley’s effort to connect company equity services with its wealth-management business. Financial terms were not disclosed. Morgan Stanley to Acquire Digital-Native Transfer Agent Vinyl Equity
• Positive Sentiment: The strategic rationale is the opportunity to serve companies and employees through the IPO process and beyond. Coverage cited IPO-related flows as a meaningful contributor to Morgan Stanley’s recent wealth-asset inflows, though the potential benefits depend on IPO activity and successful integration of Vinyl. Morgan Stanley buys Vinyl Equity to capture more IPO wealth
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate report says Morgan Stanley is trimming exposure to data-center construction loans as AI financing shifts toward private-credit funds and asset managers. This changes the bank’s exposure to the sector, but the article does not quantify the financial impact. Morgan Stanley Trims Data Center Loan Exposure As AI Financing Shifts

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $187.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $194.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.33. The stock has a market cap of $295.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $152.80 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.40%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals.

Its Institutional Securities business offers services such as financial advisory, capital raising, sales and trading, and research. The company also provides financial planning, brokerage and banking services through its Wealth Management business, while its Investment Management business offers investment strategies and portfolio management to a range of clients.

Founded in 1935, Morgan Stanley serves clients in the United States and across international markets, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.