Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by NewEdge Advisors LLC

NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 278,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,167 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $58,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Hedeker Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the second quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 26,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,601,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.2% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 21,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,549,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 327,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,392,000 after acquiring an additional 15,709 shares in the last quarter. XY Planning Network Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. XY Planning Network Inc. now owns 2,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudock Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 5,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $243.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.75.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is reportedly near the top of the list for a leading role in a potential $2 trillion Anthropic IPO. Winning the lead-left mandate could generate substantial advisory and underwriting fees while reinforcing the firm’s position in technology investment banking. Morgan Stanley, Goldman near top roles on Anthropics IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among the banks managing Spain’s planned €4 billion, 20-year green-bond offering. The mandate provides a modest near-term fee opportunity and highlights the firm’s continued role in major global debt transactions. Spain mandates new 20-year green bond syndication
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley projects a multi-quarter growth upcycle for Indian equities and expects the Sensex to reach 89,000 by June 2027. A stronger Indian market could support advisory, underwriting and wealth-management activity, although the forecast has no immediate impact on earnings. India in multi-quarter growth upcycle
• Negative Sentiment: A Merrill Lynch team managing approximately $1.2 billion reportedly left Morgan Stanley, alongside advisors from Truist and Wells Fargo. The move could modestly pressure Morgan Stanley’s wealth-management assets and fee revenue, though the broader financial impact is not yet clear. Merrill Lynch poaches Morgan Stanley advisors
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn that capital-markets momentum is fading in the third quarter, creating the risk of uneven investment-banking results for large banks including Morgan Stanley. This raises near-term concerns for underwriting and advisory revenue after a strong recent period. Capital markets momentum fades

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE MS opened at $216.31 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $148.35 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $215.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.46.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.8 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. The company serves corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and institutional investors through a range of advisory, capital-raising, trading and investment-related activities.

Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities business offers investment banking services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting and capital markets services.