Midwest Trust Co Purchases 14,780 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Posted by George Bondi on Jul 12th, 2026

Midwest Trust Co grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,780 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $29,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, CICC Research upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.20.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MS

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of MS traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $222.21. 3,617,619 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,448,374. The company has a market cap of $350.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $135.26 and a 52 week high of $230.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.26. 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 – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

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 reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners announced it entered exclusivity to acquire a majority stake in Nicollin Environnement, a French environmental services company. The move highlights MS’s private-markets and infrastructure investing capabilities beyond traditional banking. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners Enters Into Agreement to Acquire Majority Stake in Nicollin Environnement
Positive Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage continued to frame Morgan Stanley as a beneficiary of strong banking results heading into Q2 earnings season, with bank earnings generally expected to be solid and supporting sentiment for large financial stocks like MS. Bank Earnings Look Strong Ahead of Q2: ETFs in Focus
Neutral Sentiment: Separate commentary said Morgan Stanley warned that the AI chip rally may be losing momentum, but this is more a macro/sector view than a direct catalyst for MS shares. Morgan Stanley warns AI chip rally may be running out of steam

About Morgan Stanley

(Free Report)

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.