Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 35.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 427,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 112,129 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $70,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 25,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,199,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 278,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,024,000 after purchasing an additional 25,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 353,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,286,000 after purchasing an additional 62,528 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $212.85 on Monday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.55. The stock has a market cap of $335.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. 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 results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.