BNP Paribas Sells 14,480 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• BNP Paribas cut its Morgan Stanley stake by 79.8% in the second quarter, selling 14,480 shares and retaining 3,659 shares valued at approximately $765,000.
• Despite BNP’s reduction, institutional investors own 84.19% of Morgan Stanley, with major firms including State Street, Geode Capital Management and Fisher Asset Management increasing their positions.
• Morgan Stanley reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 and revenue up 27.1% year over year; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $224.75. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 and authorized a $20 billion share buyback.

BNP Paribas lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 79.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,480 shares during the period. BNP Paribas' holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $78,825,883,310. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 worth $18,437,334,000 after acquiring an additional 539,544 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after purchasing an additional 87,533 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $243.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Dbs Bank boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MS opened at $214.69 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. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $145.65 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $216.44 and a 200-day moving average of $195.32.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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