Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab

PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 266,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,386 shares during the quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $55,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Apella Capital LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $3,437,000. Westmount Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 27.9% in the second quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 2,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.9% during the second quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, Clark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $208,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE MS opened at $213.99 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $140.60 and a 1 year high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $337.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $216.36 and a 200 day moving average of $191.66.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change 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%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.19%.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s possible billion-dollar regional hub in downtown Dallas received approval for a key planning element, supporting the firm’s long-term growth and talent-retention strategy in the region. Morgan Stanley’s possible downtown hub gets sign approval
• Positive Sentiment: Wealth management remains an important stabilizing factor for Morgan Stanley, providing recurring fee revenue and diversification from more market-sensitive investment-banking and trading operations. Why Is Wealth Management Anchoring Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed, suggesting investors may be reassessing Morgan Stanley’s valuation after its strong earnings performance. The company previously reported quarterly EPS of $3.46 and revenue of $21.35 billion, both above consensus estimates.
• Negative Sentiment: A Morgan Stanley-led banking group is reportedly preparing to sell roughly $15 billion of debt connected to a Google-backed Anthropic data center. The transaction could generate fees, but investors may be concerned about exposure to heavily leveraged AI infrastructure financing and the possibility that banks are transferring risk to the market. Morgan Stanley-led banks to offload debt tied to Anthropic data center

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Freedom Capital upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

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.