Evercore Wealth Management LLC Sells 39,209 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Evercore Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,177,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39,209 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 3.0% of Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $193,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Ashford Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 63.8% during the first quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 637.2% during the first quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 7,742 shares during the period. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 2,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 36.9% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 917,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $151,021,000 after purchasing an additional 247,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hound Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $23,298,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. CICC Research raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.50.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Infrastructure expansion: Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners agreed to acquire Epic Energy, potentially expanding the firm’s exposure to infrastructure investing and strengthening its alternative-asset platform. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners to acquire Epic Energy
• Positive Sentiment: Strong positioning in AI and markets: Morgan Stanley strategists said companies adopting artificial intelligence could benefit from stronger profit margins, while the firm continues to favor high-quality megacap stocks. This reinforces Morgan Stanley’s role as a prominent adviser and source of market strategy during the AI-driven investment cycle. Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Says AI Adoption Key to Profit Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Constructive analyst visibility: Morgan Stanley remains bullish on Seagate and Western Digital, companies benefiting from AI-related storage demand. Continued high-profile research calls may support the firm’s equity-research franchise and trading activity. Seagate, Western Digital Slide Again. Morgan Stanley Still Pounding the Table
• Positive Sentiment: Momentum and ETF fee advantage: Morgan Stanley was described as a top long-term momentum stock by Zacks, and its Bitcoin ETF reportedly charges a lower sponsor fee than BlackRock’s comparable product. These developments could help sentiment toward its wealth-management and asset-management businesses. Why Morgan Stanley Is a Top Momentum Stock for the Long-Term
• Neutral Sentiment: Talent departure: OpenAI hired former Morgan Stanley managing director Alisha Lehr for a private-equity-focused role. The move highlights demand for Morgan Stanley talent but represents a modest loss of experienced personnel. OpenAI’s Private Equity Ambitions Grow With Morgan Stanley Executive Hire
• Neutral Sentiment: Market concentration risk: Morgan Stanley warned that investors heavily concentrated in a small group of mega-cap technology stocks may face a shift in market leadership. The outlook could influence client positioning and trading volumes, but does not directly change Morgan Stanley’s fundamentals. Morgan Stanley Sees Shift Coming for Big Tech Investors

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $214.41 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.18. The stock has a market cap of $338.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $136.17 and a 12 month high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.