Ibex Wealth Advisors Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Ibex Wealth Advisors reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 77.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,820 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,648,354,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364,080 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,710,000 after buying an additional 1,348,683 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was highlighted as having a favorable setup for an earnings beat ahead of next week’s report, with analysts pointing to strong growth in wealth management and other core businesses. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company said more than $1 trillion of client assets has migrated from workplace and E*TRADE channels into its adviser-led wealth management strategy, underscoring the success of its long-term shift toward more stable, fee-based revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also moved to raise its quarterly dividend and expand buybacks, which supports the stock’s valuation case and signals confidence in capital generation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s investment-management arm announced a growth investment in Viken Detection, showing the firm continues to deploy capital into technology-enabled businesses beyond traditional banking. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also noted mixed Wall Street views on financial stocks, but the broader tone around Morgan Stanley remains constructive ahead of earnings. Article Title

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $222.09 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $135.26 and a 12-month high of $230.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $207.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The company has a market cap of $350.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Argus boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. CICC Research raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.20.

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.