Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Cuts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,904 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,354,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364,080 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,710,000 after buying an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.60.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE MS opened at $210.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $332.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $212.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $136.17 and a 52 week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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 business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 32.34%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is being recognized as a leader in financing AI-related debt deals, suggesting stronger underwriting and advisory revenue tied to data-center expansion. Morgan Stanley becomes Wall Street’s top bank for AI debt deals
• Positive Sentiment: New coverage from market outlets also pointed to Morgan Stanley as constructive on broader macro and sector opportunities, including semiconductor and commodity trends, which can help sentiment around its research and client franchise. MarketWatch chip stocks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst notes and rating updates continued to support expectations for solid earnings, with recent reports raising price targets and forecast estimates for fiscal 2026 and beyond. Morgan Stanley upgraded at Freedom Capital
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the positive business headlines, the stock was under pressure in a broader risk-off session, which can weigh on large financials even when company-specific news is favorable.

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.