Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC Has $4.66 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 24.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,999 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $240 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, signaling confidence in further upside. MarketScreener article
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a higher quarterly dividend and a new $20 billion share repurchase authorization, which should appeal to income and capital-return investors. Yahoo Finance article
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment around Morgan Stanley has also been helped by broader optimism on IPOs and equity issuance, which could support the firm’s investment banking franchise if deal activity stays strong into 2026. Stocktwits article
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is being cited in several third-party articles, including commentary on broader market themes and sector stock picks, which adds visibility but does not appear to be a direct earnings catalyst. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes that Morgan Stanley continues to make stock calls across utilities, beverage, and other sectors, reinforcing its role as a market-moving analyst but not changing MS fundamentals by itself.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.50.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MS stock opened at $212.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $203.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The company has a market capitalization of $334.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

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.