3,888 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Acquired by Markowski Investments

Markowski Investments bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $813,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Highland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $46,000. Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,076,000. Blalock Williams LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $260,000. BAM Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. BAM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Finally, SMART Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,026,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Potentially major Anthropic IPO role: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are reportedly close to receiving leading roles in Anthropic’s anticipated IPO, which could involve a valuation near $2 trillion. The deal would strengthen Morgan Stanley’s technology and equity-underwriting franchise and provide a potentially meaningful source of fees and future business. Anthropic is also reportedly arranging a $15 billion revolving credit facility, with Morgan Stanley leading the process. Anthropic close to awarding Morgan Stanley and Goldman top roles in $2tn IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Strong recent earnings backdrop: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results significantly exceeded expectations, with revenue up 27.1% year over year and earnings per share of $3.46 versus a $2.89 consensus estimate. The performance supports investor confidence in the firm’s trading, investment-banking and wealth-management businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing conference and client activity: Morgan Stanley is hosting its 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference, while companies including Tempus, Attovia Therapeutics, Eaton and Southwest Airlines are scheduled to present. These events reinforce the firm’s role in institutional research and client engagement but are unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Tempus to Participate in the Morgan Stanley 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference
• Negative Sentiment: Copyright dispute with X: Morgan Stanley has filed complaints against at least 16 X posts that allegedly shared copyrighted research and temporarily locked a prominent strategist’s account. The action may protect valuable intellectual property, but it also creates reputational and legal uncertainty and could disrupt the firm’s visibility on a major platform used by investors. Morgan Stanley Hands Elon Musk a New X Headache

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Three investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $217.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.68. 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 $146.29 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 37.19%.

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.