SevenBridge Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,607 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.2% of SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth $143,000. Brentview Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% in the third quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC now owns 39,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 38,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,048,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 41,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,589,000 after purchasing an additional 4,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FourThought Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the third quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $160.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $177.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.18. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $192.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 39.18%.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is hiring contract staff in Hong Kong to handle a surge in IPOs and listings — a sign of stronger investment?banking deal flow in Asia that could boost fees if activity continues. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Street support: at least one major bank recently nudged Morgan Stanley’s modeled upside (price?target lift noted in market reports), which can attract buyers and help underpin the stock in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic initiatives and partnerships (EquityZen buyout, crypto custody tie?ups, conference presentations) are being highlighted by coverage as longer?term growth levers for wealth and markets businesses; these are strategic positives but take time to show through in results. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley restricted redemptions at one of its private?credit funds after investors sought to withdraw ~11% of the fund — a liquidity/flow strain that raises questions about mark?to?market, client confidence, and potential reputational or capital impacts for the direct?lending franchise. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Independent coverage and investor pieces are flagging risks in the direct?lending / private?credit business (discounts to NAV, yield dynamics), which could pressure valuations or fund distributions if outflows continue. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at $31,464,920. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley 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.