Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New $1.08 Million Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,076,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $217.73 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.68. The company has a market cap of $343.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $146.29 and a 1 year high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized 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 repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.75.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

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.