Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 39.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 116,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,108 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $19,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE MS opened at $212.85 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $335.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $135.26 and a fifty-two week high of $230.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.55. 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 (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.50.

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.