Eastern Bank Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Eastern Bank increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,497 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Argus increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Dbs Bank boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wealth-management growth opportunity from IPOs: Morgan Stanley is reportedly positioning its wealth-management business to capture substantial client assets from an expected wave of initial public offerings. Successful IPO execution could generate underwriting fees while adding new assets and relationships to its wealth platform. Morgan Stanley IPO after-party: a wealth management bonanza
• Positive Sentiment: Crypto expansion may support fee growth: Morgan Stanley has launched new Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded funds, broadening its digital-asset offering. The products could attract trading activity, advisory relationships and fee-generating assets, while strengthening the firm’s wealth-management “flywheel.” Morgan Stanley Just Launched New Ethereum and Solana ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: Constructive technology outlook: Morgan Stanley research expects cloud spending to reach roughly $1.4 trillion in 2027 and says open-weight AI could expand overall compute and power demand, even if it pressures application-programming-interface pricing. This supports potential advisory, financing and trading opportunities across AI, cloud and infrastructure markets. Morgan Stanley Sees Cloud Spending Hitting $1.4 Trillion in 2027
• Positive Sentiment: Strong market backdrop for trading and investment banking: A sharp Nasdaq rebound and Morgan Stanley’s view that technology-sector rotation may continue could improve equity-trading volumes, equity issuance and investor risk appetite. Nasdaq Nears 2% Gains. The Tech Trade Is So Back
• Neutral Sentiment: Client activity data released: E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley published its monthly sector-rotation study, offering insight into whether clients were net buyers or sellers across major sectors. The release highlights platform engagement but did not disclose an immediate earnings impact. E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley Releases Monthly Sector Rotation Study
• Negative Sentiment: Credit-market risk remains a consideration: Loan investors are reportedly demanding higher borrowing costs, which could pressure leveraged borrowers and reduce financing activity. This is a potential headwind for Morgan Stanley’s lending and capital-markets businesses, although the article does not identify a company-specific problem. Loan Investors Are Pushing Back as Fear Rises

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $211.31 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.04. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $139.41 and a 12-month 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 market cap of $333.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company 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 a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management 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.