KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC Sells 8,693 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• KMG Fiduciary Partners reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 25.5% in the second quarter, selling 8,693 shares and retaining 25,368 shares valued at approximately $5.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley reported quarterly earnings of $3.46 per share and revenue of $21.35 billion, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue increased 27.1% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $224.75.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share and authorized a $20 billion stock-repurchase program, alongside initiatives including a proposed $1.5 trillion innovation and infrastructure investment effort.

KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,368 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,693 shares during the period. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 143.4% in the second quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 297.4% during the 2nd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 151 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley launched a $1.5 trillion innovation and infrastructure initiative designed to support investment in technology, advanced manufacturing, energy and other strategic sectors. The effort could strengthen the firm’s long-term investment-banking, asset-management and advisory opportunities. Morgan Stanley starts $1.5T innovation infrastructure initiative
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise to Overweight and set a $69 price target, citing improving enterprise-infrastructure growth, earnings potential and cash generation. The call highlights the bank’s ability to generate advisory and trading activity around technology and infrastructure themes. Hewlett Packard Stock Rises After Morgan Stanley Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues expanding its fixed-income activity through new and recently completed medium-term note offerings carrying coupons of roughly 4.5% to 5.2% and maturities from 2029 through 2036. The issuance supports funding and liquidity but may keep investors focused on borrowing costs and whether the stock’s valuation already reflects strong earnings. Morgan Stanley expands fixed income activity
• Neutral Sentiment: KBRA assigned preliminary ratings to ten classes of certificates in a $418.1 million Morgan Stanley-sponsored residential mortgage-backed securities transaction. The deal demonstrates continued securitization activity, although its meaningful non-prime mortgage exposure could draw additional attention to credit quality and market-risk management. KBRA assigns preliminary ratings to Morgan Stanley mortgage trust
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley-backed renewable developer PNE said potential buyers appear unwilling to meet its market valuation, casting doubt on whether a sale will occur. While the issue is not central to Morgan Stanley’s earnings, it could modestly weigh on sentiment toward the firm’s involvement in the transaction. Morgan Stanley-backed PNE sale prospects unclear

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Morgan Stanley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, CICC Research lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $214.56 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $141.03 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $338.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $216.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. 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 of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management 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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