Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Bought by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

Key Points

• TD Waterhouse Canada increased its Morgan Stanley stake by 24.2% in the second quarter, purchasing 113,515 additional shares for a total holding worth approximately $123.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of MS shares.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 beating estimates by $0.57 and revenue rising 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. The stock opened at $217.30, near its 52-week high of $232.25.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15, or $4.60 annually, and authorized a $20 billion share buyback covering up to 5.6% of outstanding shares. Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $224.75.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 24.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 583,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 113,515 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $123,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,661 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 90.9% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,688 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,127,000 after buying an additional 15,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,805,000 after buying an additional 3,807 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.6%

MS stock opened at $217.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The company's 50-day moving average price is $215.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.53. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $146.29 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The company has a market cap of $342.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.75.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are favoring major banks on the view that higher rates could support net interest income and financial-sector earnings. Morgan Stanley’s strong recent results— including a quarterly EPS beat, 27.1% year-over-year revenue growth and 19.3% return on equity—provide additional fundamental support. Expectations of Rising Rates and Worries About AI Have Investors Piling Into Big Bank Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research franchise remains active, including a bullish view on Robinhood, Galaxy Digital and selected AI-related companies. Such calls may reinforce the firm’s market visibility and support expectations for continued trading, advisory and wealth-management activity. Robinhood Markets Stock Opinions on Analyst Upgrades and Blockchain Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley will host its Laguna and Global Healthcare conferences, featuring companies including Southwest Airlines, Eaton, Attovia, EyePoint and Zoetis. The events support client engagement and deal flow but do not represent a direct change to MS’s financial outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent filings show Morgan Stanley increased its institutional position in Cipher Digital and Amwell while reducing its stake in CXM and EyePoint. These portfolio changes are not material catalysts for Morgan Stanley’s stock and may reflect client or investment-management activity.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher-rate expectations can also weigh on bond valuations and raise funding costs, while continued technology-sector volatility could hurt market sentiment and reduce risk-taking across parts of Morgan Stanley’s trading and investment-banking businesses. Morgan Stanley Says U.S. Debt Fears Miss Bigger Story

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source