Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Newly Purchased by KRS Capital Management LLC

KRS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,963,000. Morgan Stanley makes up about 0.9% of KRS Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $546,000. Kintegral Advisory LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 86,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,175,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 16,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,157,000 after buying an additional 2,335 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 20,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,888,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Record wealth-management results, including approximately $9.1 billion in revenue, strong net new assets and $10.5 trillion in wealth assets, reinforced Morgan Stanley’s long-term growth strategy. Morgan Stanley Q3 profit hits $4.9bn on wealth gains and IPO inflows
• Positive Sentiment: Equities trading revenue surged 41% year over year, helping drive the earnings and revenue outperformance. Management also highlighted opportunities from AI financing and disciplined capital allocation. Morgan Stanley Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Wealth and AI Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, equivalent to $4.60 annually and a stated yield of about 2.5%, providing ongoing shareholder support.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed: JPMorgan raised its target to $198 while maintaining a Neutral rating, but Citigroup, TD Cowen and KBW lowered their targets to $190, $205 and $230, respectively. Morgan Stanley Analysts Cut Their Forecasts After Q3 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Investors appeared concerned that growth was concentrated in equities and trading, while profitability metrics and the business mix were less compelling. The strong beat therefore did not translate into higher valuation expectations. Morgan Stanley Beats on Earnings, But Shares Fall on Trading Mix

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $180.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $204.40 and a 200-day moving average of $203.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $285.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $152.80 and a 1 year high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buy back $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $217.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.86.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.