ABN Amro Investment Solutions Sells 5,711 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• ABN Amro Investment Solutions cut its Morgan Stanley stake by 3.7% in the second quarter, selling 5,711 shares and retaining 148,712 shares valued at $31.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 and revenue of $21.35 billion, exceeding analyst expectations and representing 27.1% year-over-year revenue growth. The board also authorized a $20 billion share repurchase program, while the quarterly dividend increased to $1.15 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $224.75. Recent price targets from BMO Capital Markets and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods rose to $250.

ABN Amro Investment Solutions decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 148,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,711 shares during the quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions' holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,648,354,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364,080 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $511,723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,844 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $249,710,000 after buying an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan increased their holdings of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs during the second quarter and added exposure to Solana and XRP products. The activity reinforces Morgan Stanley’s expansion into digital-asset products, which could support future fee and client-asset growth. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan load up on crypto ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among five banks advising Carlyle-backed Quest Global on a potential India IPO of up to $1 billion. The mandate could generate advisory and underwriting fees while highlighting the firm’s international capital-markets franchise. Quest Global selects banks for India IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised its earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley, providing a supportive analyst signal following the company’s strong recent quarterly results. Erste Group lifts Morgan Stanley earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley adopted a more constructive view of U.S. IT hardware, citing “chipflation” and faster enterprise spending. The research may benefit the firm’s advisory and trading activity, but it is not a direct change to Morgan Stanley’s earnings outlook. Morgan Stanley turns bullish on IT hardware
• Negative Sentiment: A critical report on Morgan Stanley’s direct-lending business raised concerns about recent results and credit-market risks. Although details were limited, the negative coverage may weigh on sentiment toward the firm’s private-credit operations. Morgan Stanley direct lending results

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $217.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $342.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $216.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.00. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $141.03 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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.

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