Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 294,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,877 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $61,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 143.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $217.31 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $216.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.00. The company has a market capitalization of $342.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.22. 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 fifty-two week low of $141.03 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 6th. Dbs Bank upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $243.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan increased their holdings of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs during the second quarter and added exposure to Solana and XRP products. The activity reinforces Morgan Stanley’s expansion into digital-asset products, which could support future fee and client-asset growth. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan load up on crypto ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among five banks advising Carlyle-backed Quest Global on a potential India IPO of up to $1 billion. The mandate could generate advisory and underwriting fees while highlighting the firm’s international capital-markets franchise. Quest Global selects banks for India IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised its earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley, providing a supportive analyst signal following the company’s strong recent quarterly results. Erste Group lifts Morgan Stanley earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley adopted a more constructive view of U.S. IT hardware, citing “chipflation” and faster enterprise spending. The research may benefit the firm’s advisory and trading activity, but it is not a direct change to Morgan Stanley’s earnings outlook. Morgan Stanley turns bullish on IT hardware
• Negative Sentiment: A critical report on Morgan Stanley’s direct-lending business raised concerns about recent results and credit-market risks. Although details were limited, the negative coverage may weigh on sentiment toward the firm’s private-credit operations. Morgan Stanley direct lending results

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.