Triglav Investments D.O.O. Trims Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Triglav Investments D.O.O. reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 55.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,426 shares during the period. Triglav Investments D.O.O.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.20.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners announced it entered exclusivity to acquire a majority stake in Nicollin Environnement, a French environmental services company. The move highlights MS’s private-markets and infrastructure investing capabilities beyond traditional banking. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners Enters Into Agreement to Acquire Majority Stake in Nicollin Environnement
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage continued to frame Morgan Stanley as a beneficiary of strong banking results heading into Q2 earnings season, with bank earnings generally expected to be solid and supporting sentiment for large financial stocks like MS. Bank Earnings Look Strong Ahead of Q2: ETFs in Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Separate commentary said Morgan Stanley warned that the AI chip rally may be losing momentum, but this is more a macro/sector view than a direct catalyst for MS shares. Morgan Stanley warns AI chip rally may be running out of steam

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $222.21 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $350.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $208.58 and a 200 day moving average of $187.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $135.26 and a 12 month high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley 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.