6,120 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Bought by LM Advisors LLC

LM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,000.

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

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.4%

MS opened at $214.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $338.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $144.67 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $217.16 and a 200 day moving average of $194.12.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

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

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its gold outlook, arguing that gold’s recent breakout could extend higher and forecasting prices above $5,000 per ounce by 2027. A stronger commodities outlook could benefit the firm’s trading, wealth-management and investment-banking businesses. Morgan Stanley Doubles Down on Gold After Breakout
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reportedly selected Dallas for a major expansion outside New York City. The move could improve long-term operating flexibility, expand access to talent and support growth in a lower-cost financial center. Morgan Stanley said to pick Dallas for expansion outside NYC
• Positive Sentiment: The firm continues to position itself in emerging investment products, including an Ethereum exchange-traded product that offers staking yield. This may broaden fee-generating opportunities and strengthen Morgan Stanley’s digital-asset platform.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research highlighted a projected 38-gigawatt power shortfall for AI data centers, identifying potential opportunities in industrial, energy and infrastructure financing. The report may support future advisory and capital-markets activity, but it does not represent a direct earnings catalyst. Morgan Stanley Says AI Data Centers Face a 38-Gigawatt Power Gap
• Negative Sentiment: The Ethereum product also exposes investors to staking-related risks, including slashing penalties, provider risk and withdrawal delays. These concerns could limit adoption or increase reputational and operational risk. Morgan Stanley Put Ethereum Yield in an ETP. Who Carries the Risk?
• Negative Sentiment: Scotiabank hired Morgan Stanley’s top Canadian banker, a competitive setback that could affect Morgan Stanley’s Canadian investment-banking and precious-metals operations. Scotiabank hires Morgan Stanley’s top Canada banker Richard Tory

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Dbs Bank lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Freedom Capital raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

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.