Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by State Street Corp

Key Points

• State Street reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 1.8%, selling 1.78 million shares in the second quarter while retaining approximately 99.56 million shares valued at $20.8 billion. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $3.46 per share and revenue of $21.35 billion, exceeding analyst expectations and representing 27.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The stock recently fell 3.1% to $199.74, despite a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $224.75 price target. Morgan Stanley also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 and authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase plan.

State Street Corp reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,560,815 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,779,379 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 6.31% of Morgan Stanley worth $20,812,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $78,825,883,310. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,736,648,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $2,040,227,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $295,482,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded down $6.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $199.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,731,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,187,516. The firm has a market capitalization of $315.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $151.84 and a 1-year high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%.Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are participating in a reported $17.2 billion China technology investment boom, highlighting the firm’s access to cross-border technology and AI-related business opportunities. Goldman, Morgan Stanley Ride China Tech Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley says corporate AI adoption remains in its early stages, suggesting potentially significant long-term opportunities for advisory, financing, investment-management and technology-related revenue as businesses scale AI spending. Morgan Stanley Says AI Adoption Has Barely Started
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s 1GT strategy led a $56 million funding round for Australia-based Amber Electric, demonstrating continued activity in growth equity and climate-focused private investments. Morgan Stanley 1GT Leads Amber Electric Funding Round
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is collaborating with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on a New York investor roadshow, which could support international capital-markets activity but is unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings. ADX Global Investor Roadshow
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are reportedly seeking to withdraw 11.4% of shares from a Morgan Stanley private-credit fund. Elevated redemption requests could raise concerns about liquidity, fee pressure and broader investor appetite for private-market products. Morgan Stanley Private Credit Fund Redemptions
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley to “Hold,” adding to valuation concerns after the stock’s substantial advance and potentially limiting near-term upside expectations. Morgan Stanley Cut to Hold
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategists warned that higher bond yields and elevated oil prices could divert money from equities and weaken consumer spending, creating a less favorable backdrop for trading, asset management and investment banking. Warning of a Big Sell-Off

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley NYSE: MS is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. The company serves corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and institutional investors through a range of advisory, capital-raising, trading and investment-related activities.

Morgan Stanley's Institutional Securities business offers investment banking services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting and capital markets services.

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