USA Financial Formulas Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after buying an additional 87,533 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,342,532,000 after buying an additional 188,296 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $2,040,227,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,190,585,000 after buying an additional 65,739 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $180.73 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $204.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $152.80 and a 1-year high of $232.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $285.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.74 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Record wealth-management results, including approximately $9.1 billion in revenue, strong net new assets and $10.5 trillion in wealth assets, reinforced Morgan Stanley’s long-term growth strategy. Morgan Stanley Q3 profit hits $4.9bn on wealth gains and IPO inflows
• Positive Sentiment: Equities trading revenue surged 41% year over year, helping drive the earnings and revenue outperformance. Management also highlighted opportunities from AI financing and disciplined capital allocation. Morgan Stanley Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Wealth and AI Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, equivalent to $4.60 annually and a stated yield of about 2.5%, providing ongoing shareholder support.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed: JPMorgan raised its target to $198 while maintaining a Neutral rating, but Citigroup, TD Cowen and KBW lowered their targets to $190, $205 and $230, respectively. Morgan Stanley Analysts Cut Their Forecasts After Q3 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Investors appeared concerned that growth was concentrated in equities and trading, while profitability metrics and the business mix were less compelling. The strong beat therefore did not translate into higher valuation expectations. Morgan Stanley Beats on Earnings, But Shares Fall on Trading Mix

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $243.00 to $195.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.86.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.