Wesbanco Bank Inc. Trims Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 72,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,050 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and reapproved a $20 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence in capital strength and shareholder returns.
• Positive Sentiment: Continued to highlight strength in its core franchise, with recent earnings showing strong revenue and profit growth and analysts still expecting double-digit earnings growth into the next quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles also quote Morgan Stanley strategists and analysts on broader market themes, including the tech selloff and AI trade, but these comments are not direct operating updates for MS.
• Negative Sentiment: Private-credit redemption pressure is weighing on sentiment, as investors worry that withdrawal limits in Morgan Stanley’s fund could be a sign of broader stress in the sector.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.7%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $212.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market cap of $335.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $203.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.50. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $135.26 and a twelve month high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.