NewEdge Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 278,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,167 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $58,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $78,825,883,310. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 20,805.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 374,314,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,246,626,000 after purchasing an additional 372,523,624 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th 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 raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during 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 buying an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 524,189 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MS opened at $216.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $148.35 and a one year high of $232.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $215.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.46.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost 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 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is reportedly near the top of the list for a leading role in a potential $2 trillion Anthropic IPO. Winning the lead-left mandate could generate substantial advisory and underwriting fees while reinforcing the firm’s position in technology investment banking. Morgan Stanley, Goldman near top roles on Anthropics IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among the banks managing Spain’s planned €4 billion, 20-year green-bond offering. The mandate provides a modest near-term fee opportunity and highlights the firm’s continued role in major global debt transactions. Spain mandates new 20-year green bond syndication
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley projects a multi-quarter growth upcycle for Indian equities and expects the Sensex to reach 89,000 by June 2027. A stronger Indian market could support advisory, underwriting and wealth-management activity, although the forecast has no immediate impact on earnings. India in multi-quarter growth upcycle
• Negative Sentiment: A Merrill Lynch team managing approximately $1.2 billion reportedly left Morgan Stanley, alongside advisors from Truist and Wells Fargo. The move could modestly pressure Morgan Stanley’s wealth-management assets and fee revenue, though the broader financial impact is not yet clear. Merrill Lynch poaches Morgan Stanley advisors
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn that capital-markets momentum is fading in the third quarter, creating the risk of uneven investment-banking results for large banks including Morgan Stanley. This raises near-term concerns for underwriting and advisory revenue after a strong recent period. Capital markets momentum fades

Morgan Stanley Profile

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.