Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 21,479 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Royal London Asset Management reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 3.3%, selling 21,479 shares and retaining 631,430 shares valued at approximately $132 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Morgan Stanley receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $224.75. Recent targets include $260 from UBS and $233 from Goldman Sachs, though Goldman retained a neutral rating.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with adjusted EPS of $3.46 beating estimates and revenue rising 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. The company also authorized a $20 billion stock buyback and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 631,430 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 21,479 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $131,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crown Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC raised its stake 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Freedom Capital raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwinds support the outlook: Zacks identified Morgan Stanley among investment banks positioned to benefit from increased technology spending, active trading, and stronger underwriting and advisory activity. These trends could support revenue growth across wealth management and institutional securities. 3 Investment Bank Stocks Set to Benefit From Industry Tailwinds
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings momentum remains a fundamental support: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results showed adjusted earnings per share of $3.46, well above the $2.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. However, these results were released earlier and do not represent a fresh trading catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment-banking activity remains visible: Morgan Stanley was listed among institutional buyers in recent Indian transactions involving Purple Style Labs and Lenskart. These deals may generate advisory or underwriting revenue, but the announcements do not appear material enough to directly affect MS shares. Purple Style Raises Funds Ahead of IPO

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:MS opened at $214.69 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $216.44 and its 200-day moving average is $195.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $145.65 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The firm has a market cap of $338.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion during 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%. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. 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. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley 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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