UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $2.34 Billion Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 188,296 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,342,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 59,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,503,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $219,000. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the second quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 158,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,182,000 after buying an additional 5,911 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,129,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,072,209,000 after buying an additional 471,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwinds support the outlook: Zacks identified Morgan Stanley among investment banks positioned to benefit from increased technology spending, active trading, and stronger underwriting and advisory activity. These trends could support revenue growth across wealth management and institutional securities. 3 Investment Bank Stocks Set to Benefit From Industry Tailwinds
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings momentum remains a fundamental support: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results showed adjusted earnings per share of $3.46, well above the $2.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. However, these results were released earlier and do not represent a fresh trading catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment-banking activity remains visible: Morgan Stanley was listed among institutional buyers in recent Indian transactions involving Purple Style Labs and Lenskart. These deals may generate advisory or underwriting revenue, but the announcements do not appear material enough to directly affect MS shares. Purple Style Raises Funds Ahead of IPO

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MS. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Dbs Bank raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:MS opened at $214.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $145.65 and a 12 month high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The firm 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 19.31%. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.