Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Position Lessened by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

Key Points

• TD Waterhouse Canada reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 9.4% in the third quarter, selling 54,923 shares and retaining 528,366 shares valued at approximately $99.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.03 in adjusted EPS and $20.34 billion in revenue, with revenue up 11.6% year over year. The company also authorized a $20 billion share repurchase program and declared a $1.15 quarterly dividend.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $214.86. Shares recently traded at $180.73, pressured by concerns that earnings growth was overly concentrated in equities and trading.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 528,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 54,923 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $99,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crown Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the second quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the second quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 35.7% during the second quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Bank OZK raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank OZK now owns 1,815 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on MS shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.86.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Record wealth-management results, including approximately $9.1 billion in revenue, strong net new assets and $10.5 trillion in wealth assets, reinforced Morgan Stanley’s long-term growth strategy. Morgan Stanley Q3 profit hits $4.9bn on wealth gains and IPO inflows
• Positive Sentiment: Equities trading revenue surged 41% year over year, helping drive the earnings and revenue outperformance. Management also highlighted opportunities from AI financing and disciplined capital allocation. Morgan Stanley Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Wealth and AI Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, equivalent to $4.60 annually and a stated yield of about 2.5%, providing ongoing shareholder support.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed: JPMorgan raised its target to $198 while maintaining a Neutral rating, but Citigroup, TD Cowen and KBW lowered their targets to $190, $205 and $230, respectively. Morgan Stanley Analysts Cut Their Forecasts After Q3 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Investors appeared concerned that growth was concentrated in equities and trading, while profitability metrics and the business mix were less compelling. The strong beat therefore did not translate into higher valuation expectations. Morgan Stanley Beats on Earnings, But Shares Fall on Trading Mix

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MS traded down $1.37 on Friday, reaching $180.73. The stock had a trading volume of 5,644,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,073,885. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.48. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $152.80 and a 12-month high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.64 EPS for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.

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