DJE Kapital AG Reduces Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

DJE Kapital AG decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 81.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 93,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 420,469 shares during the quarter. DJE Kapital AG’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $15,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in 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 last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 15,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the second 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. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Argus lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.60.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is being recognized as a leader in financing AI-related debt deals, suggesting stronger underwriting and advisory revenue tied to data-center expansion. Morgan Stanley becomes Wall Street’s top bank for AI debt deals
• Positive Sentiment: New coverage from market outlets also pointed to Morgan Stanley as constructive on broader macro and sector opportunities, including semiconductor and commodity trends, which can help sentiment around its research and client franchise. MarketWatch chip stocks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst notes and rating updates continued to support expectations for solid earnings, with recent reports raising price targets and forecast estimates for fiscal 2026 and beyond. Morgan Stanley upgraded at Freedom Capital
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the positive business headlines, the stock was under pressure in a broader risk-off session, which can weigh on large financials even when company-specific news is favorable.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $210.98 on Tuesday. 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 price of $212.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.00. The company has a market cap of $332.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 32.34%.

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.