Orca Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Orca Investment Management initiated a Morgan Stanley position, purchasing 4,722 shares worth approximately $987,000. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company’s stock.
• 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. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $224.75.
• The company strengthened shareholder returns by authorizing a $20 billion share-repurchase program and raising its quarterly dividend from $1.00 to $1.15, equivalent to a 2.1% annualized yield.

Orca Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,722 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $987,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,648,354,000 after buying an additional 3,364,080 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in 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 period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $249,710,000 after buying an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on MS shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $218.63 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $344.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50-day moving average is $216.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.33. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $141.03 and a 1 year high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business's revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders 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. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s strategists said earnings growth is broadening beyond mega-cap technology, favoring quality companies, AI adopters, large-cap financials and consumer discretionary stocks. The outlook supports sentiment toward Morgan Stanley’s own wealth-management and capital-markets businesses. Morgan Stanley Favours Quality, AI Adopters and Financials as Earnings Growth Broadens
• Positive Sentiment: General Atlantic has revived plans for a potential IPO as soon as this year, with JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley involved. A renewed IPO market could increase Morgan Stanley’s underwriting, advisory and trading revenue opportunities. General Atlantic Reignites IPO Plans With JPMorgan, Goldman and Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley has reportedly increased exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded products, signaling a deeper push into digital-asset offerings. The move could broaden products and fee revenue, although it also introduces additional market and regulatory risk. Morgan Stanley’s Bigger Crypto ETF Bet Might Change The Case For Investing in Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley declared regular dividends on several preferred-stock series, payable in September and October. The payments reinforce the firm’s capital-return profile but do not directly change the outlook for common-stock earnings. Morgan Stanley preferred-stock dividend declarations
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also completed roughly $7.54 million of senior unsecured medium-term note offerings with fixed coupons of 4.650% to 5.200%. The issuance supports liquidity and funding flexibility, but adds interest expense and leverage exposure. Morgan Stanley’s Bigger Crypto ETF Bet Might Change The Case For Investing in Morgan Stanley

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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