Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 23,610 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 284,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,610 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $46,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,661 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 90.9% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,688 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 15,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Dbs Bank lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE:MS opened at $212.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $335.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $203.03 and its 200 day moving average is $184.50. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $135.26 and a 12 month high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management 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.