Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 54.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,562,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 553,374 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $257,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $214.11 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $136.17 and a 1 year high of $232.25. The firm has a market cap of $337.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The company’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.50.

Morgan Stanley 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.