Bollard Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Bollard Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 247,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,360 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.2% of Bollard Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $40,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s recent earnings results were strong, with the firm beating estimates on both EPS and revenue and posting robust year-over-year growth, which supports the stock’s longer-term fundamental case.
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to receive constructive Wall Street commentary, including a “Moderate Buy” consensus and recent bullish analyst coverage tied to its earnings power and capital markets franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s wealth management unit attracting new assets tied to SpaceX IPO interest, which reinforces the strength of its wealth and investment management businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated market stories involving Morgan Stanley analyst calls on other stocks, plus broader AI/capex and earnings-driven volatility across large-cap tech and financials, may be influencing sentiment around MS indirectly.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE MS opened at $214.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $136.17 and a one year high of $232.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $213.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. 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 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.50.

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.