Blue Chip Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Blue Chip Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,334 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $16,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after buying an additional 3,661 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 90.9% during 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 increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $37,127,000 after purchasing an additional 15,623 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,807 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $214.11 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $136.17 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The stock has a market cap of $337.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.99.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MS. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. CICC Research increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $243.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.50.

More Morgan Stanley News

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 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.