Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Has $6.83 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 36.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,605 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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 0.2%

Shares of MS opened at $214.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $337.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $136.17 and a one year high of $232.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.99. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership 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 paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. 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 is 32.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Argus increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.50.

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.