California State Teachers Retirement System Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System dramatically increased its Morgan Stanley holdings by 20,805.5% in the second quarter, owning 374.3 million shares valued at approximately $78.25 billion, or 23.73% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 versus the $2.89 consensus and revenue of $21.35 billion, up 27.1% year over year.
• The company authorized a $20 billion share repurchase program and raised its quarterly dividend from $1.00 to $1.15; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $224.75.

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 20,805.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 374,314,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 372,523,624 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 23.73% of Morgan Stanley worth $78,246,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $78,825,883,310. State Street Corp grew 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 valued at $18,437,334,000 after acquiring an additional 539,544 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $4,786,350,000 after purchasing an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised 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 worth $4,441,505,000 after purchasing an additional 524,189 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 87,533 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $217.73 on Monday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $215.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.86. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $146.29 and a twelve month high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion during 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%.Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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 paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $243.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.75.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

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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