Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Invests $32.52 Million in Morgan Stanley $MS

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 155,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,515,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $78,825,883,310. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,437,334,000 after buying an additional 539,544 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,686,881,000 after acquiring an additional 87,533 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $214.69 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $216.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $145.65 and a 52 week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) 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 firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. CICC Research lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.75.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwinds support the outlook: Zacks identified Morgan Stanley among investment banks positioned to benefit from increased technology spending, active trading, and stronger underwriting and advisory activity. These trends could support revenue growth across wealth management and institutional securities. 3 Investment Bank Stocks Set to Benefit From Industry Tailwinds
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings momentum remains a fundamental support: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results showed adjusted earnings per share of $3.46, well above the $2.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. However, these results were released earlier and do not represent a fresh trading catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment-banking activity remains visible: Morgan Stanley was listed among institutional buyers in recent Indian transactions involving Purple Style Labs and Lenskart. These deals may generate advisory or underwriting revenue, but the announcements do not appear material enough to directly affect MS shares. Purple Style Raises Funds Ahead of IPO

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.