Socorro Asset Management LP Sells 20,562 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Socorro Asset Management LP lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 32.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,562 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 3.2% of Socorro Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Socorro Asset Management LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,281,000 after purchasing an additional 8,512 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 679.8% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,527,000 after buying an additional 36,963 shares in the last quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $1,260,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $116,102,000 after buying an additional 65,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $8,854,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.50.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE MS opened at $214.41 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $136.17 and a 1-year high of $232.25. 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 $214.36 and a 200-day moving average of $190.18. The firm 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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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 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.