Morgan Stanley $MS Position Lessened by Forum Financial Management LP

Key Points

• Forum Financial Management LP cut its Morgan Stanley position by 42.4% in the second quarter, selling 5,494 shares and retaining 7,469 shares valued at approximately $1.56 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 versus the $2.89 consensus estimate and revenue of $21.35 billion, up 27.1% year over year.
• The company authorized a $20 billion share buyback and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share, equivalent to a $4.60 annualized payout and a 2.1% yield.

Forum Financial Management LP decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 42.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,494 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,437,334,000 after buying an additional 539,544 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,786,350,000 after buying an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after acquiring an additional 524,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after acquiring an additional 87,533 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MS stock opened at $217.31 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $141.03 and a 12 month high of $232.25. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $216.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.00. The company has a market cap of $342.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $1.15 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 37.19%.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan increased their holdings of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs during the second quarter and added exposure to Solana and XRP products. The activity reinforces Morgan Stanley’s expansion into digital-asset products, which could support future fee and client-asset growth. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan load up on crypto ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among five banks advising Carlyle-backed Quest Global on a potential India IPO of up to $1 billion. The mandate could generate advisory and underwriting fees while highlighting the firm’s international capital-markets franchise. Quest Global selects banks for India IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised its earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley, providing a supportive analyst signal following the company’s strong recent quarterly results. Erste Group lifts Morgan Stanley earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley adopted a more constructive view of U.S. IT hardware, citing “chipflation” and faster enterprise spending. The research may benefit the firm’s advisory and trading activity, but it is not a direct change to Morgan Stanley’s earnings outlook. Morgan Stanley turns bullish on IT hardware
• Negative Sentiment: A critical report on Morgan Stanley’s direct-lending business raised concerns about recent results and credit-market risks. Although details were limited, the negative coverage may weigh on sentiment toward the firm’s private-credit operations. Morgan Stanley direct lending results

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Dbs Bank upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.75.

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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