Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY Decreases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,443 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 3.6% of Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $39,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 105.9% during the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 9,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after buying an additional 5,132 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 427,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,420,000 after buying an additional 112,129 shares in the last quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.3% during the first quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 25,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,199,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and reapproved a $20 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence in capital strength and shareholder returns.
• Positive Sentiment: Continued to highlight strength in its core franchise, with recent earnings showing strong revenue and profit growth and analysts still expecting double-digit earnings growth into the next quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles also quote Morgan Stanley strategists and analysts on broader market themes, including the tech selloff and AI trade, but these comments are not direct operating updates for MS.
• Negative Sentiment: Private-credit redemption pressure is weighing on sentiment, as investors worry that withdrawal limits in Morgan Stanley’s fund could be a sign of broader stress in the sector.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.50.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $212.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $335.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.55. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $135.26 and a one year high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

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.