St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 16,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,437,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 1.8% of St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% during the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.
Morgan Stanley Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $213.99 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $140.60 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The stock has a market cap of $337.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $216.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.77.
Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 37.19%.
More Morgan Stanley News
Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s possible billion-dollar regional hub in downtown Dallas received approval for a key planning element, supporting the firm’s long-term growth and talent-retention strategy in the region. Morgan Stanley’s possible downtown hub gets sign approval
- Positive Sentiment: Wealth management remains an important stabilizing factor for Morgan Stanley, providing recurring fee revenue and diversification from more market-sensitive investment-banking and trading operations. Why Is Wealth Management Anchoring Morgan Stanley
- Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed, suggesting investors may be reassessing Morgan Stanley’s valuation after its strong earnings performance. The company previously reported quarterly EPS of $3.46 and revenue of $21.35 billion, both above consensus estimates.
- Negative Sentiment: A Morgan Stanley-led banking group is reportedly preparing to sell roughly $15 billion of debt connected to a Google-backed Anthropic data center. The transaction could generate fees, but investors may be concerned about exposure to heavily leveraged AI infrastructure financing and the possibility that banks are transferring risk to the market. Morgan Stanley-led banks to offload debt tied to Anthropic data center
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.
View Our Latest Research Report on Morgan Stanley
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.
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