Kraft Davis & Associates LLC Sells 160,980 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Kraft Davis & Associates LLC lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 90.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 160,980 shares during the quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.4% during the second quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $296,000. Mayport LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $385,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 4,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $129,472,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Dbs Bank raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $211.89 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $146.29 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The company has a market cap of $334.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Rotation into big banks: Investors are favoring major financial institutions as higher-rate expectations support potential gains in net interest income and reinforce confidence in diversified banks such as Morgan Stanley. Expectations of Rising Rates and Worries About AI Have Investors Piling Into Big Bank Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Strong operating backdrop: Morgan Stanley’s latest reported quarter showed earnings of $3.46 per share and revenue of $21.35 billion, exceeding consensus estimates. Revenue increased 27.1% year over year, while return on equity reached 19.31%, supporting the stock’s fundamental appeal.
• Positive Sentiment: Potential cost efficiencies from AI: Morgan Stanley and other major banks are pressing law firms to reduce fees as AI makes routine legal work faster. Lower outside-counsel costs could modestly improve expense efficiency, although the direct financial impact is not yet quantified. Wall Street banks push Big Law to cut fees because of AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Client activity remains a watchpoint: E*TRADE’s monthly sector-rotation study provides insight into Morgan Stanley’s brokerage-client trading behavior, but the release did not identify a specific earnings or revenue catalyst for MS. E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley Releases Monthly Sector Rotation Study
• Negative Sentiment: Rates create volatility: The recent bond selloff pushed the 10-year Treasury yield to approximately 4.79%, raising concerns about market valuations and potentially increasing pressure on investment-banking and wealth-management activity. Morgan Stanley Stock Is Up Nearly 20% in 2026: What Will It Take to Break Through $250?

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.