Summit Securities Group LLC Sells 78,697 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Summit Securities Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 99.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 78,697 shares during the quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $33,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners announced it entered exclusivity to acquire a majority stake in Nicollin Environnement, a French environmental services company. The move highlights MS’s private-markets and infrastructure investing capabilities beyond traditional banking. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners Enters Into Agreement to Acquire Majority Stake in Nicollin Environnement
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage continued to frame Morgan Stanley as a beneficiary of strong banking results heading into Q2 earnings season, with bank earnings generally expected to be solid and supporting sentiment for large financial stocks like MS. Bank Earnings Look Strong Ahead of Q2: ETFs in Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Separate commentary said Morgan Stanley warned that the AI chip rally may be losing momentum, but this is more a macro/sector view than a direct catalyst for MS shares. Morgan Stanley warns AI chip rally may be running out of steam

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.20.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $222.21. 3,617,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,448,374. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $135.26 and a twelve month high of $230.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $350.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its 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 return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program 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 repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 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.