Hilltop Holdings Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Hilltop Holdings sharply reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 83.6% in the first quarter, selling 45,873 shares and leaving it with 9,031 shares worth about $1.49 million.
• Morgan Stanley recently reported better-than-expected earnings, posting $3.46 EPS versus the $2.89 estimate and revenue of $21.35 billion, up 27.1% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and authorized a $20 billion share buyback, signaling continued confidence in capital returns.

Hilltop Holdings Inc. cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 83.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,031 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 45,873 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.5%

MS opened at $214.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $337.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $213.93 and a 200-day moving average of $189.97. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $136.17 and a 52 week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm's revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 32.34%.

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 outstanding 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 generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s recent earnings results were strong, with the firm beating estimates on both EPS and revenue and posting robust year-over-year growth, which supports the stock’s longer-term fundamental case.
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to receive constructive Wall Street commentary, including a “Moderate Buy” consensus and recent bullish analyst coverage tied to its earnings power and capital markets franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s wealth management unit attracting new assets tied to SpaceX IPO interest, which reinforces the strength of its wealth and investment management businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated market stories involving Morgan Stanley analyst calls on other stocks, plus broader AI/capex and earnings-driven volatility across large-cap tech and financials, may be influencing sentiment around MS indirectly.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. CICC Research raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $214.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Dbs Bank raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.50.

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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