Cetera Investment Advisers Has $61.08 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 381,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,518 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $61,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $214.11 on Friday. The firm 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. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $136.17 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $213.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Freedom Capital raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Argus boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.50.

Key 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 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.