Ibex Wealth Advisors Cuts Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Ibex Wealth Advisors trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 77.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,820 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 69.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,661 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 90.9% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,688 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,127,000 after acquiring an additional 15,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the second quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,807 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related 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 transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.20.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was highlighted as having a favorable setup for an earnings beat ahead of next week’s report, with analysts pointing to strong growth in wealth management and other core businesses. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company said more than $1 trillion of client assets has migrated from workplace and E*TRADE channels into its adviser-led wealth management strategy, underscoring the success of its long-term shift toward more stable, fee-based revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also moved to raise its quarterly dividend and expand buybacks, which supports the stock’s valuation case and signals confidence in capital generation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s investment-management arm announced a growth investment in Viken Detection, showing the firm continues to deploy capital into technology-enabled businesses beyond traditional banking. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also noted mixed Wall Street views on financial stocks, but the broader tone around Morgan Stanley remains constructive ahead of earnings. Article Title

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $222.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $207.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.01. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $135.26 and a 52-week high of $230.47. 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 $350.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

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.