Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Lido Advisors LLC

Lido Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 208,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 47,324 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $34,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Two equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE MS opened at $218.66 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $136.17 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The company has a market capitalization of $344.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.56. 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 (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 32.34%.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s economics team raised its AI spending outlook sharply, saying global AI capex could reach $1.4 trillion by 2028; that reinforces the firm’s relevance in one of the market’s strongest investment themes and may support sentiment toward MS. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage also highlighted Morgan Stanley’s strong first-half performance versus peers, with analysts pointing to the bank’s solid quarterly results as evidence that Wall Street momentum may continue across the sector. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Separately, Morgan Stanley was cited in several sector notes and target updates across other companies, including AI, software, telecom, and industrial names, which keeps the firm visible but does not directly change MS fundamentals today.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.