Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Aristotle Capital Management LLC

Aristotle Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,796 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $106,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 69.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,661 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 90.9% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,688 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,127,000 after purchasing an additional 15,623 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the second quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,807 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $214.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $136.17 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $213.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.97. The company has a market capitalization of $337.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.34%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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 Company 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.