Burney Co. Has $4.13 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Burney Co. reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 31.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,323 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,437,334,000 after purchasing an additional 539,544 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after purchasing an additional 167,487 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after purchasing an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,441,505,000 after buying an additional 524,189 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, 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.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:MS opened at $222.12 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $135.26 and a one year high of $230.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $350.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $206.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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%.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Morgan Stanley (MS) to $255 from $214 and reiterated a buy rating, suggesting additional upside from current levels. UBS Group Boosts Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $255.00
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America also lifted its target on Morgan Stanley (MS) to $250 and kept a buy rating, reinforcing the bullish analyst tone ahead of earnings. Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Bank of America Corporation from $225.00 to $250.00.
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also focusing on Morgan Stanley’s Q2 earnings report due July 15, with expectations for solid revenue and EPS, while recent commentary has highlighted strength in Wall Street trading activity and capital markets as a potential tailwind for bank results.
• Positive Sentiment: Broader financial-sector optimism is helping sentiment, as analysts have been pointing to strong second-quarter earnings prospects for major U.S. banks and continued strength in trading and advisory activity.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own market commentary has also been active, including calls that investors may rotate toward hyperscalers and AI-linked names; that’s more of a broader strategy backdrop than a direct driver for MS itself. Trading surge, helped by SpaceX IPO, seen lifting Wall St banks’ second-quarter earnings

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. HSBC upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Dbs Bank lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.20.

Morgan Stanley 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.