Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Buys Shares of 53,799 Morgan Stanley $MS

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 53,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,854,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after purchasing an additional 8,512 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 679.8% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,527,000 after purchasing an additional 36,963 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 965,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $171,866,000 after purchasing an additional 67,613 shares in the last quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,260,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 646,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,102,000 after buying an additional 65,246 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.55.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reported record second-quarter revenue of $21.35 billion and EPS of $3.46, beating Wall Street estimates on strong trading, investment banking, and wealth management results.
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its quarterly dividend by 15% to $1.15 per share, signaling confidence in cash generation and capital returns.
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted record wealth and institutional revenues, along with strong financial flexibility and growing AI-related capital needs, reinforcing the view that core businesses remain healthy.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts lifted price targets after the print, including Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising its target to $250 and keeping an outperform rating, adding to bullish sentiment. Article source
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also watching Morgan Stanley’s growing exposure to the AI and IPO boom, including commentary that client demand and capital-markets activity remain favorable for future results.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 4.5%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $218.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $136.17 and a 1-year high of $232.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.52. The company has a market cap of $344.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 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 firm had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $1.15 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.