CI Investments Inc. Has $2.31 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

CI Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 32.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,416 shares during the quarter. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Argus raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.50.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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 Down 0.5%

MS opened at $214.11 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $136.17 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $213.93 and its 200 day moving average is $189.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This is a boost 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 of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.34%.

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.