Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 324,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,488 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $53,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Powers Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $222.21. 3,617,619 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,448,374. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $208.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.26. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $135.26 and a 1-year high of $230.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $350.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during 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%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, CICC Research increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.