Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Amundi

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 4.1% in the second quarter, selling 288,920 shares and retaining 6.69 million shares valued at approximately $1.4 billion. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $3.46 versus the $2.89 consensus estimate and revenue rising 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15, equal to a 2.1% yield, and authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase program. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $224.75.

Amundi cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,692,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 288,920 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.42% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,398,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $8,854,000. Arsenal Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $814,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 201.0% during the 1st quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 11,726 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 71,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,724,000 after purchasing an additional 11,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 764,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $135,736,000 after purchasing an additional 20,783 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $217.73 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $343.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $215.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $146.29 and a 12 month high of $232.25.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The firm 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 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Potentially major Anthropic IPO role: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are reportedly close to receiving leading roles in Anthropic’s anticipated IPO, which could involve a valuation near $2 trillion. The deal would strengthen Morgan Stanley’s technology and equity-underwriting franchise and provide a potentially meaningful source of fees and future business. Anthropic is also reportedly arranging a $15 billion revolving credit facility, with Morgan Stanley leading the process. Anthropic close to awarding Morgan Stanley and Goldman top roles in $2tn IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Strong recent earnings backdrop: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results significantly exceeded expectations, with revenue up 27.1% year over year and earnings per share of $3.46 versus a $2.89 consensus estimate. The performance supports investor confidence in the firm’s trading, investment-banking and wealth-management businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing conference and client activity: Morgan Stanley is hosting its 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference, while companies including Tempus, Attovia Therapeutics, Eaton and Southwest Airlines are scheduled to present. These events reinforce the firm’s role in institutional research and client engagement but are unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Tempus to Participate in the Morgan Stanley 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference
• Negative Sentiment: Copyright dispute with X: Morgan Stanley has filed complaints against at least 16 X posts that allegedly shared copyrighted research and temporarily locked a prominent strategist’s account. The action may protect valuable intellectual property, but it also creates reputational and legal uncertainty and could disrupt the firm’s visibility on a major platform used by investors. Morgan Stanley Hands Elon Musk a New X Headache

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. 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 shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $243.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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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