Premier Fund Managers Ltd Makes New $13.94 Million Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired 65,800 Morgan Stanley shares worth approximately $13.94 million in the second quarter, making the stock its 24th-largest holding and 1.3% of its portfolio.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 beating estimates and revenue rising 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. The board also approved a $20 billion share-repurchase plan.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $224.75.

Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 65,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,937,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 1.3% of Premier Fund Managers Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $217.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $342.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $216.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.00. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $141.03 and a one year high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released 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 company 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. CICC Research increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.75.

Key Stories Impacting 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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source