Owen LaRue LLC Buys Shares of 6,964 Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Owen LaRue LLC acquired 6,964 Morgan Stanley shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.46 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 surpassing estimates of $2.89 and revenue rising 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $224.75.
• The company authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase program and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share, equivalent to a 2.1% annualized yield.

Owen LaRue LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,456,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 143.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan increased their holdings of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs during the second quarter and added exposure to Solana and XRP products. The activity reinforces Morgan Stanley’s expansion into digital-asset products, which could support future fee and client-asset growth. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan load up on crypto ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among five banks advising Carlyle-backed Quest Global on a potential India IPO of up to $1 billion. The mandate could generate advisory and underwriting fees while highlighting the firm’s international capital-markets franchise. Quest Global selects banks for India IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised its earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley, providing a supportive analyst signal following the company’s strong recent quarterly results. Erste Group lifts Morgan Stanley earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley adopted a more constructive view of U.S. IT hardware, citing “chipflation” and faster enterprise spending. The research may benefit the firm’s advisory and trading activity, but it is not a direct change to Morgan Stanley’s earnings outlook. Morgan Stanley turns bullish on IT hardware
• Negative Sentiment: A critical report on Morgan Stanley’s direct-lending business raised concerns about recent results and credit-market risks. Although details were limited, the negative coverage may weigh on sentiment toward the firm’s private-credit operations. Morgan Stanley direct lending results

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $217.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $216.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.00. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $141.03 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The company has a market cap of $342.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change 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%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

About Morgan Stanley

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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