BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd Purchases New Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 11,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,304,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $207,000. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 52,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,879,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 12,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.5% in the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 40,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,557,000 after acquiring an additional 7,246 shares during the period. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.7% during the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 7,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer highlighted Morgan Stanley as a “quiet execution winner” over newer fintech and blockchain companies, providing favorable retail-investor visibility. Jim Cramer backs Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s most recent reported quarter showed strong operating momentum: earnings per share of $3.46 beat estimates of $2.89, while revenue of $21.35 billion exceeded the $19.67 billion consensus and increased 27.1% year over year.
• Neutral Sentiment: An opinion article argued that Morgan Stanley may be expensive after its rally, potentially encouraging profit-taking even though the business has delivered strong results. Morgan Stanley valuation commentary
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson warned that oil prices above $100 per barrel and elevated interest rates are among the main near-term risks for stocks. Higher rates can pressure financial-sector valuations and raise concerns about economic growth and capital-markets activity. Morgan Stanley warns on oil and rates
• Negative Sentiment: Merrill Lynch recruited an advisory team from Morgan Stanley as part of a broader $1.8 billion advisor move. While unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings, the departure adds a modest competitive and wealth-management retention overhang. Merrill recruits Morgan Stanley advisors

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted 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 Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $215.45 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $339.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.21. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $151.42 and a 1-year high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.8 earnings per share for the current year.

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 paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 37.19%.

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

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. The company serves corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and institutional investors through a range of advisory, capital-raising, trading and investment-related activities.

Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities business offers investment banking services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting and capital markets services.