AMG National Trust Bank Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

AMG National Trust Bank boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,654 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $214.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.20.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media coverage are highlighting Morgan Stanley’s upcoming earnings as a potential catalyst, with expectations for strong trading and investment banking results. Morgan Stanley Stock Climbs: What's Happening Today?
• Positive Sentiment: Peers JPMorgan and Bank of America have already reported strong results, improving sentiment for the large-bank group heading into Morgan Stanley’s earnings. BANK OF AMERICA ($BAC) Releases Q2 2026 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary suggests U.S. banks could post broad earnings beats thanks to resilient capital markets activity and stronger wealth-management flows. US bank earnings could surprise to the upside as Bank of America highlights strong operating backdrop
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own analysts have also been active across other names, including raising price targets on Apple and Alnylam, reinforcing its influence in current market sentiment. Morgan Stanley Is Bullish on Apple Stock (AAPL), Expects Price Hikes to Boost Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary also notes Morgan Stanley itself may be trading at a stretched valuation ahead of earnings, which could limit upside if results disappoint. JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America: Three Major Banks, Three Different Verdicts

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $228.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $359.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $135.26 and a 1-year high of $232.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.94. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for 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 period last year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.