Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 126,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,657 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $110,938,000. Bollard Group LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 247,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after acquiring an additional 30,360 shares during the last quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 35,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,922,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 6,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 221.9% in the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 6,812 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.50.
More Morgan Stanley News
Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s recent earnings results were strong, with the firm beating estimates on both EPS and revenue and posting robust year-over-year growth, which supports the stock’s longer-term fundamental case.
- Positive Sentiment: The company continues to receive constructive Wall Street commentary, including a “Moderate Buy” consensus and recent bullish analyst coverage tied to its earnings power and capital markets franchise.
- Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s wealth management unit attracting new assets tied to SpaceX IPO interest, which reinforces the strength of its wealth and investment management businesses.
- Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated market stories involving Morgan Stanley analyst calls on other stocks, plus broader AI/capex and earnings-driven volatility across large-cap tech and financials, may be influencing sentiment around MS indirectly.
Morgan Stanley Stock Performance
Shares of MS opened at $214.11 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $136.17 and a one year high of $232.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $213.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.97. The stock has a market cap of $337.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last released its 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.34%.
Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy 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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