MW Advisory LLC Acquires Shares of 10,637 Morgan Stanley $MS

MW Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 10,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,000. Morgan Stanley makes up about 0.9% of MW Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Markowski Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $813,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $46,000. Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $1,076,000. Blalock Williams LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $260,000. Finally, BAM Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 28.2% in the second quarter. BAM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $217.73 on Friday. The firm 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 52 week low of $146.29 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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. 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $1.15 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.19%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. CICC Research lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley 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.