OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 55,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,791 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 1.9% of OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,437,334,000 after purchasing an additional 539,544 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,343,523,000 after purchasing an additional 167,487 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,786,350,000 after purchasing an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after buying an additional 524,189 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $212.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $335.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $203.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.50. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $135.26 and a 1 year high of $230.47.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.50.

Trending Headlines about 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.