VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems purchased 392,200 Morgan Stanley shares worth approximately $82 million during the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the stock.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion and EPS of $3.46, exceeding analyst expectations. The board also authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase program and raised the quarterly dividend to $1.15.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.75, although ratings range from “strong buy” to “underperform.”

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 392,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $81,985,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Potentially major Anthropic IPO role: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are reportedly close to receiving leading roles in Anthropic’s anticipated IPO, which could involve a valuation near $2 trillion. The deal would strengthen Morgan Stanley’s technology and equity-underwriting franchise and provide a potentially meaningful source of fees and future business. Anthropic is also reportedly arranging a $15 billion revolving credit facility, with Morgan Stanley leading the process. Anthropic close to awarding Morgan Stanley and Goldman top roles in $2tn IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Strong recent earnings backdrop: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results significantly exceeded expectations, with revenue up 27.1% year over year and earnings per share of $3.46 versus a $2.89 consensus estimate. The performance supports investor confidence in the firm’s trading, investment-banking and wealth-management businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing conference and client activity: Morgan Stanley is hosting its 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference, while companies including Tempus, Attovia Therapeutics, Eaton and Southwest Airlines are scheduled to present. These events reinforce the firm’s role in institutional research and client engagement but are unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Tempus to Participate in the Morgan Stanley 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference
• Negative Sentiment: Copyright dispute with X: Morgan Stanley has filed complaints against at least 16 X posts that allegedly shared copyrighted research and temporarily locked a prominent strategist’s account. The action may protect valuable intellectual property, but it also creates reputational and legal uncertainty and could disrupt the firm’s visibility on a major platform used by investors. Morgan Stanley Hands Elon Musk a New X Headache

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0%

MS opened at $217.73 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $343.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.86. 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 has a 52 week low of $146.29 and a 52 week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (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 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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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