Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 7,854 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 107,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,854 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $17,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.5%

MS stock opened at $214.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $337.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $213.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.97. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $136.17 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 32.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.50.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s recent earnings results were strong, with the firm beating estimates on both EPS and revenue and posting robust year-over-year growth, which supports the stock’s longer-term fundamental case.
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to receive constructive Wall Street commentary, including a “Moderate Buy” consensus and recent bullish analyst coverage tied to its earnings power and capital markets franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s wealth management unit attracting new assets tied to SpaceX IPO interest, which reinforces the strength of its wealth and investment management businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated market stories involving Morgan Stanley analyst calls on other stocks, plus broader AI/capex and earnings-driven volatility across large-cap tech and financials, may be influencing sentiment around MS indirectly.

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.