Saudi Central Bank grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 89.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,127 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $17,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $78,825,883,310. State Street Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 539,544 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after acquiring an additional 534,708 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 524,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after acquiring an additional 87,533 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.75.
Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley
Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Potentially major Anthropic IPO role: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are reportedly close to receiving leading roles in Anthropic’s anticipated IPO, which could involve a valuation near $2 trillion. The deal would strengthen Morgan Stanley’s technology and equity-underwriting franchise and provide a potentially meaningful source of fees and future business. Anthropic is also reportedly arranging a $15 billion revolving credit facility, with Morgan Stanley leading the process. Anthropic close to awarding Morgan Stanley and Goldman top roles in $2tn IPO
- Positive Sentiment: Strong recent earnings backdrop: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results significantly exceeded expectations, with revenue up 27.1% year over year and earnings per share of $3.46 versus a $2.89 consensus estimate. The performance supports investor confidence in the firm’s trading, investment-banking and wealth-management businesses.
- Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing conference and client activity: Morgan Stanley is hosting its 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference, while companies including Tempus, Attovia Therapeutics, Eaton and Southwest Airlines are scheduled to present. These events reinforce the firm’s role in institutional research and client engagement but are unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Tempus to Participate in the Morgan Stanley 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference
- Negative Sentiment: Copyright dispute with X: Morgan Stanley has filed complaints against at least 16 X posts that allegedly shared copyrighted research and temporarily locked a prominent strategist’s account. The action may protect valuable intellectual property, but it also creates reputational and legal uncertainty and could disrupt the firm’s visibility on a major platform used by investors. Morgan Stanley Hands Elon Musk a New X Headache
Morgan Stanley Price Performance
Morgan Stanley stock opened at $217.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The company has a market capitalization of $343.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $146.29 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $215.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.68.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.8 EPS for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $1.15 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.19%.
Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Morgan Stanley Company 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.
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