Quantinno Capital Management LP Buys 247,186 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 36.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 917,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 247,186 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $151,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Infrastructure expansion: Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners agreed to acquire Epic Energy, potentially expanding the firm’s exposure to infrastructure investing and strengthening its alternative-asset platform. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners to acquire Epic Energy
• Positive Sentiment: Strong positioning in AI and markets: Morgan Stanley strategists said companies adopting artificial intelligence could benefit from stronger profit margins, while the firm continues to favor high-quality megacap stocks. This reinforces Morgan Stanley’s role as a prominent adviser and source of market strategy during the AI-driven investment cycle. Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Says AI Adoption Key to Profit Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Constructive analyst visibility: Morgan Stanley remains bullish on Seagate and Western Digital, companies benefiting from AI-related storage demand. Continued high-profile research calls may support the firm’s equity-research franchise and trading activity. Seagate, Western Digital Slide Again. Morgan Stanley Still Pounding the Table
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum and ETF fee advantage: Morgan Stanley was described as a top long-term momentum stock by Zacks, and its Bitcoin ETF reportedly charges a lower sponsor fee than BlackRock’s comparable product. These developments could help sentiment toward its wealth-management and asset-management businesses. Why Morgan Stanley Is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term
• Neutral Sentiment: Talent departure: OpenAI hired former Morgan Stanley managing director Alisha Lehr for a private-equity-focused role. The move highlights demand for Morgan Stanley talent but represents a modest loss of experienced personnel. OpenAI’s Private Equity Ambitions Grow With Morgan Stanley Executive Hire
• Neutral Sentiment: Market concentration risk: Morgan Stanley warned that investors heavily concentrated in a small group of mega-cap technology stocks may face a shift in market leadership. The outlook could influence client positioning and trading volumes, but does not directly change Morgan Stanley’s fundamentals. Morgan Stanley Sees Shift Coming for Big Tech Investors

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MS. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $243.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.50.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $214.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $214.36 and a 200 day moving average of $190.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $338.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $136.17 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS 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 19.51%. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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.