Matrix Trust Co Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Matrix Trust Co cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 33.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,789 shares during the quarter. Matrix Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% during the 4th 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 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. 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 note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $216.23 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.85. The stock has a market cap of $341.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $141.03 and a 12 month high of $232.25.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. 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. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.