Talon Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 16,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,646,000.
A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% during the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.50.
Morgan Stanley Price Performance
Shares of MS opened at $211.82 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $136.17 and a one year high of $232.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $214.81 and its 200-day moving average is $190.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $334.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.34%.
Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley
Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley launched the MSSE Ethereum Trust and MSOL Solana Trust on NYSE Arca. Both products charge a 0.14% expense ratio and intend to stake assets, passing staking rewards to investors. The products expand Morgan Stanley’s digital-asset platform beyond its bitcoin offering and could generate new fee revenue. Morgan Stanley expands crypto lineup with Ether, Solana ETPs
- Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s strong position in the investment-banking and trading boom. The firm advised on 15 construction-related transactions worth $81.3 billion in the first half of 2026, reinforcing its competitive position in mergers and acquisitions. Morgan Stanley leads construction M&A advisory in H1 2026
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategists remain constructive on artificial-intelligence investment, arguing that major technology companies’ substantial AI spending could ultimately produce strong returns and improve profit margins. This supports continued advisory, financing and trading opportunities for MS, although the view primarily benefits its corporate clients. Morgan Stanley says AI investment could generate strong returns
- Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among the anchor investors in Manipal Health Enterprises’ planned Indian IPO, which raised Rs 4,167 crore from anchor investors. The deal may provide advisory, underwriting or distribution revenue, but its near-term financial impact on MS was not disclosed. Manipal Health IPO anchor investment
- Negative Sentiment: The positive company-specific news has not offset likely profit-taking and broader risk reduction across financial and technology stocks. Morgan Stanley’s shares remain near their 52-week high, leaving valuation and market-sentiment concerns as potential reasons investors are selling despite the firm’s strong prior earnings and expanding fee opportunities.
About Morgan Stanley
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.
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