Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Krilogy Financial LLC

Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,080 shares during the quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.7% during the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $308,000. Summit Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $1,219,000. Matthew Goff Investment Advisor LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 14.8% in the first quarter. Matthew Goff Investment Advisor LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.8% during the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is exploring a major expansion in Texas, including a Dallas office-building deal, which suggests continued investment in its U.S. franchise and long-term growth plans. Morgan Stanley Weighs Expansion to Dallas With $1.33 Billion Office-Building Deal
• Positive Sentiment: The bank is expanding its crypto ETF offerings with proposed Ethereum and Solana funds, a move that could strengthen Morgan Stanley’s fee-based product lineup and attract new investor assets. Morgan Stanley (MS) Launches 0.14% Ethereum And Solana ETFs With 95% Staking Rewards
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was also mentioned as the hired advisor on SPS Commerce’s sale process, highlighting its dealmaking role but with limited direct impact on MS shares. SPS Commerce hires Morgan Stanley to explore sale amid activist push – Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: Separately, Morgan Stanley capped a private credit fund after redemption requests of 11.6%, a reminder that some alternative-credit products are facing investor pressure. Morgan Stanley caps private credit fund after redemption requests of 11.6%

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. CICC Research increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.65.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $227.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $358.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. 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 has a 1-year low of $135.01 and a 1-year high of $230.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $201.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

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.