Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Raises Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,947 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MS. CICC Research boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Dbs Bank raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $214.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.20.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media coverage are highlighting Morgan Stanley’s upcoming earnings as a potential catalyst, with expectations for strong trading and investment banking results. Morgan Stanley Stock Climbs: What's Happening Today?
• Positive Sentiment: Peers JPMorgan and Bank of America have already reported strong results, improving sentiment for the large-bank group heading into Morgan Stanley’s earnings. BANK OF AMERICA ($BAC) Releases Q2 2026 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary suggests U.S. banks could post broad earnings beats thanks to resilient capital markets activity and stronger wealth-management flows. US bank earnings could surprise to the upside as Bank of America highlights strong operating backdrop
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own analysts have also been active across other names, including raising price targets on Apple and Alnylam, reinforcing its influence in current market sentiment. Morgan Stanley Is Bullish on Apple Stock (AAPL), Expects Price Hikes to Boost Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary also notes Morgan Stanley itself may be trading at a stretched valuation ahead of earnings, which could limit upside if results disappoint. JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America: Three Major Banks, Three Different Verdicts

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.2%

MS opened at $228.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $359.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $135.26 and a 12 month high of $232.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $209.98 and a 200 day moving average of $187.94.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.