Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 19.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,408 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.9% of Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% during the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Dbs Bank increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.75.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley hired Adam Kweskin, a diversified-industries banker from Bank of America, to join its Global Industrials Investment Banking Group. The addition could strengthen the firm’s dealmaking capacity and support investment-banking fees if corporate activity remains robust. Morgan Stanley hires BofA’s Kweskin to cover diversified industries
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted improving capital-markets conditions and continued strength in Morgan Stanley’s wealth-management business, reinforcing the investment case for its more diversified revenue mix. Why Is Wealth Management Anchoring Morgan Stanley?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley-led banks are reportedly preparing to distribute approximately $15 billion of debt associated with a Google-backed Anthropic data center. The transaction underscores Morgan Stanley’s opportunity to generate fees from the rapidly expanding artificial-intelligence infrastructure financing market. Morgan Stanley-led banks to offload debt tied to Anthropic data center
• Neutral Sentiment: Approval of a key element of Morgan Stanley’s proposed billion-dollar Dallas regional hub represents a long-term investment in its operating footprint, though the project is not expected to materially affect near-term earnings. Morgan Stanley’s possible downtown hub gets sign approval
• Neutral Sentiment: The firm’s second-quarter Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund update provides additional visibility into its private-credit platform, but the available report does not include enough detail to determine a meaningful impact on MS valuation. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Posts Q2 2026 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Another Morgan Stanley banker reportedly moved to Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC, highlighting the ongoing risk of losing experienced dealmakers as global energy and investment activity intensifies. Another Morgan Stanley Banker Lands Top Investment Role at ADNOC

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:MS opened at $216.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $216.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.84. The company has a market capitalization of $341.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $141.03 and a 52-week high of $232.25.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board 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 buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.