Proficio Capital Partners LLC Has $1.83 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 331.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,725 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Crown Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the second quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $213.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $145.65 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.66. The firm has a market cap of $336.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS 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 dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley analysts remain constructive on several technology-related businesses. The firm maintained a Buy rating on Akamai with a $165 price target, citing cloud-infrastructure commitments that could improve the company’s growth outlook. Akamai analyst rating
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reportedly highlighted favorable data-center trends following Marvell’s strong quarterly results, reinforcing the investment bank’s view that AI infrastructure demand remains an important growth theme. Morgan Stanley on Marvell data centers
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is hosting its 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference in September, which will include a fireside chat with IDEXX Laboratories’ management. The event could provide sector insights but is not an immediate earnings catalyst for MS. IDEXX at Morgan Stanley healthcare conference
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are assessing whether AI-driven mortgage refinancing will accelerate prepayments on the loans underlying mortgage-backed securities. Faster repayments could shorten asset durations and reduce or disrupt income patterns for banks and other mortgage-bond investors, including Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley mortgage bond risk
• Negative Sentiment: Separate commentary on elevated national debt, Treasury yields and potentially weaker debt data may be contributing to caution toward financial stocks. These factors can affect funding costs, bond valuations, trading activity and credit conditions. Morgan Stanley on debt and yields

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Freedom Capital upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Dbs Bank upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.75.

About Morgan Stanley

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.