Waverly Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Waverly Advisors increased its Morgan Stanley holdings by 29.3% in the first quarter, bringing its position to 112,548 shares valued at approximately $18.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.46 and revenue of $21.35 billion, exceeding analyst estimates and marking 27.1% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 and authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase program. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $224.50.

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 29.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 25,515 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 68,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 32.1% in the first quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 8,367 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 54.8% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,562,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $257,144,000 after purchasing an additional 553,374 shares during the period. Galaxy Digital Capital Management GP LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 298.7% during the first quarter. Galaxy Digital Capital Management GP LLC now owns 9,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 7,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $110,938,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2%

MS stock opened at $214.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $213.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.99. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $136.17 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The company's quarterly 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 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given 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 is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.34%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s recent earnings results were strong, with the firm beating estimates on both EPS and revenue and posting robust year-over-year growth, which supports the stock’s longer-term fundamental case.
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to receive constructive Wall Street commentary, including a “Moderate Buy” consensus and recent bullish analyst coverage tied to its earnings power and capital markets franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s wealth management unit attracting new assets tied to SpaceX IPO interest, which reinforces the strength of its wealth and investment management businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated market stories involving Morgan Stanley analyst calls on other stocks, plus broader AI/capex and earnings-driven volatility across large-cap tech and financials, may be influencing sentiment around MS indirectly.

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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