14,790 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Purchased by LifeGoal Investments LLC

LifeGoal Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 14,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,782,000. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 0.9% of LifeGoal Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $78,825,883,310. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 539,544 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after purchasing an additional 87,533 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,342,532,000 after purchasing an additional 188,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,794,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,611,846,000 after purchasing an additional 422,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $260.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.43.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen initiated coverage with a Hold rating but assigned a $210 price target, implying roughly 12% upside from the referenced price. The target provides some valuation support despite the neutral rating. TD Cowen initiates coverage of Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually high call-option activity—26,930 calls traded, approximately 63% above average—signals that some traders are positioning for a rebound or upside volatility. Morgan Stanley unusual options activity
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer recently backed Morgan Stanley following its pullback, highlighting the company’s buyback authorization and long-term appeal. Jim Cramer backs Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley proposed converting eight Eaton Vance municipal-bond mutual funds, totaling nearly $10 billion in assets, into ETFs. The move could improve product competitiveness and fee efficiency, but shareholder approval is still required. Morgan Stanley proposes municipal fund conversions
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group downgraded Morgan Stanley from Buy to Hold, adding to the perception that the stock’s recent run-up has left less near-term upside.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts are cautious ahead of the next earnings report: recent coverage suggests Morgan Stanley lacks the usual combination of positive earnings revisions and estimate momentum associated with a likely beat. Morgan Stanley stock market performance analysis

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $187.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $207.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.85. The company has a market cap of $295.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $151.84 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.