Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Holdings Lessened by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,093,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,747 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $646,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $78,825,883,310. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,736,648,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,040,227,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $511,723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $295,482,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. 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 note on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS traded down $1.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $198.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,341,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,201,396. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $151.84 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $312.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.06.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.19%.

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

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The leaked internal document reportedly listed more than 100 investment-banking deals that Morgan Stanley is pitching or monitoring in Asia. While the disclosure is a reputational concern, the size of the pipeline may signal continued advisory and underwriting activity. Morgan Stanley Investment-Bank Deal List Leaked in Email Misfire
• Positive Sentiment: A reported $720 million Accelevation IPO entering the queue points to a recovering investment-banking cycle, although Morgan Stanley’s role and fee have not been disclosed. More capital-markets activity could support future advisory and underwriting revenue. Morgan Stanley Falls as AI IPO Enters Queue
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley analysts highlighted ServiceTitan, CCC and Via as potential beneficiaries of consumer-agent adoption. The research may reinforce the firm’s technology and thematic-research profile, but it does not represent a direct earnings catalyst for MS. ServiceTitan, CCC and Via Might Receive a Boost From Consumer Agents
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also published a list of “overweight” stocks ahead of earnings season and reiterated that strong earnings and cash flow are increasingly important in a higher-rate environment. This is more relevant to the firm’s research franchise than to near-term company financials. Morgan Stanley Names Its Overweight Stocks to Buy
• Negative Sentiment: A Morgan Stanley staffer reportedly misfired an email containing confidential details about more than 100 investment-banking deals in Asia. The firm apologized and is investigating; potential client, regulatory and reputational consequences likely outweighed the positive signal from the underlying deal pipeline. Morgan Stanley Apologizes for Misfired Email

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. The company serves corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and institutional investors through a range of advisory, capital-raising, trading and investment-related activities.

Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities business offers investment banking services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting and capital markets services.