Integrated Advisors Network LLC Has $4.78 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Integrated Advisors Network LLC cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 36.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,856 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,437,334,000 after buying an additional 539,544 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after buying an additional 167,487 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after buying an additional 534,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after buying an additional 524,189 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.20.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $0.24 on Tuesday, hitting $221.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,013,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,659,688. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $205.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $135.26 and a twelve month high of $230.47. The company has a market capitalization of $349.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America and UBS both raised their price targets on Morgan Stanley and kept buy ratings, signaling continued Wall Street confidence in the stock’s upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are looking for Morgan Stanley to post solid Q2 results on July 15, with expectations for $2.81 EPS and $19.34 billion in revenue, which keeps fundamentals in focus ahead of the print.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management also announced an investment in the Greenlight Electricity Centre power project, reinforcing its capital deployment and infrastructure strategy.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary from Morgan Stanley has also touched on broader market themes, including a potential rotation away from chipmakers and toward hyperscalers, which may be influencing sector sentiment more than MS-specific news.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock may be trading softer as investors take profits or stay cautious after a strong run and ahead of earnings, even with the higher analyst targets.

About Morgan Stanley

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.