Hound Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 141,570 Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Hound Partners LLC acquired 141,570 Morgan Stanley shares worth approximately $23.3 million in the first quarter, making MS its 10th-largest holding and about 2.9% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the stock.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 and revenue of $21.35 billion exceeding estimates; revenue increased 27.1% year over year.
• The company authorized a $20 billion share repurchase program and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $224.50.

Hound Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 141,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $23,298,000. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 2.9% of Hound Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 48.5% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 237,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,114,000 after purchasing an additional 77,579 shares during the period. Family Manage LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 771.6% in the 1st quarter. Family Manage LLC now owns 18,347 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 16,242 shares during the period. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,696,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Everest Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Everest Financial Group LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,025,000 after buying an additional 165 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: 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.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE MS opened at $214.11 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $337.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $136.17 and a one year high of $232.25. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $213.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 32.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. CICC Research boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. HSBC increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.50.

Morgan Stanley Company 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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