First Trust Advisors LP Cuts Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 538,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,642 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $88,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 679.8% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,000 after acquiring an additional 36,963 shares during the last quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,260,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 646,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,102,000 after acquiring an additional 65,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth approximately $8,854,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about 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.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $214.11 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $213.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $136.17 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 32.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $243.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday. Argus upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Dbs Bank boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.50.

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.