Family Manage LLC Buys 16,242 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Family Manage LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 771.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,242 shares during the period. Family Manage LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s recent earnings results were strong, with the firm beating estimates on both EPS and revenue and posting robust year-over-year growth, which supports the stock’s longer-term fundamental case.
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to receive constructive Wall Street commentary, including a “Moderate Buy” consensus and recent bullish analyst coverage tied to its earnings power and capital markets franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s wealth management unit attracting new assets tied to SpaceX IPO interest, which reinforces the strength of its wealth and investment management businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated market stories involving Morgan Stanley analyst calls on other stocks, plus broader AI/capex and earnings-driven volatility across large-cap tech and financials, may be influencing sentiment around MS indirectly.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2%

MS stock opened at $214.11 on Monday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $213.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.99. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $136.17 and a one year high of $232.25. The stock has a market cap of $337.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.15 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.34%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MS. Dbs Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.50.

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.