Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,449 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $21,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,437,334,000 after buying an additional 539,544 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after buying an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after buying an additional 524,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $2,736,648,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MS opened at $228.52 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $135.26 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. The company has a market capitalization of $360.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $210.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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 business 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 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.20.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Equities trading and investment banking both came in strong, helping drive the earnings beat and record profit.
• Positive Sentiment: Wealth management and investment management also posted solid growth, reinforcing the quality of the quarter and the durability of the franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its quarterly dividend by 15%, which signals management confidence in future cash generation.
• Positive Sentiment: Client assets topped $10 trillion, a sign that Morgan Stanley’s wealth platform continues to scale.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market sentiment is also helping financial stocks, with cooler inflation data supporting hopes for a friendlier rate backdrop.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts have reiterated constructive views on MS and peers after strong banking-sector earnings.

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.