Wesbanco Bank Inc. Trims Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,050 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 96.0% in the 1st quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 39,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,513,000 after acquiring an additional 19,378 shares during the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 1,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $10,088,000. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $91,239,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. 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 report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.50.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and reapproved a $20 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence in capital strength and shareholder returns.
• Positive Sentiment: Continued to highlight strength in its core franchise, with recent earnings showing strong revenue and profit growth and analysts still expecting double-digit earnings growth into the next quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles also quote Morgan Stanley strategists and analysts on broader market themes, including the tech selloff and AI trade, but these comments are not direct operating updates for MS.
• Negative Sentiment: Private-credit redemption pressure is weighing on sentiment, as investors worry that withdrawal limits in Morgan Stanley’s fund could be a sign of broader stress in the sector.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $212.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $203.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.50. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $135.26 and a 12-month high of $230.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $335.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.