Heartland Bank & Trust Co Acquires New Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Heartland Bank & Trust Co. acquired 8,793 Morgan Stanley shares worth approximately $1.84 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 exceeding estimates by $0.57 and revenue rising 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $224.75.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and authorized a $20 billion stock buyback, allowing repurchases of up to 5.6% of outstanding shares.

Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,793 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,838,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 143.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Atlatl Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its gold outlook, arguing that gold’s recent breakout could extend higher and forecasting prices above $5,000 per ounce by 2027. A stronger commodities outlook could benefit the firm’s trading, wealth-management and investment-banking businesses. Morgan Stanley Doubles Down on Gold After Breakout
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reportedly selected Dallas for a major expansion outside New York City. The move could improve long-term operating flexibility, expand access to talent and support growth in a lower-cost financial center. Morgan Stanley said to pick Dallas for expansion outside NYC
• Positive Sentiment: The firm continues to position itself in emerging investment products, including an Ethereum exchange-traded product that offers staking yield. This may broaden fee-generating opportunities and strengthen Morgan Stanley’s digital-asset platform.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research highlighted a projected 38-gigawatt power shortfall for AI data centers, identifying potential opportunities in industrial, energy and infrastructure financing. The report may support future advisory and capital-markets activity, but it does not represent a direct earnings catalyst. Morgan Stanley Says AI Data Centers Face a 38-Gigawatt Power Gap
• Negative Sentiment: The Ethereum product also exposes investors to staking-related risks, including slashing penalties, provider risk and withdrawal delays. These concerns could limit adoption or increase reputational and operational risk. Morgan Stanley Put Ethereum Yield in an ETP. Who Carries the Risk?
• Negative Sentiment: Scotiabank hired Morgan Stanley’s top Canadian banker, a competitive setback that could affect Morgan Stanley’s Canadian investment-banking and precious-metals operations. Scotiabank hires Morgan Stanley’s top Canada banker Richard Tory

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Dbs Bank increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.4%

NYSE MS opened at $214.42 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $144.67 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $217.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.22.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company's revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm 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. 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 yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 37.19%.

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

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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