Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,093,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,747 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.20% of Morgan Stanley worth $646,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $78,825,883,310. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,736,648,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,040,227,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $295,482,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MS. Zacks Research raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $243.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.75.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: The leaked internal document reportedly listed more than 100 investment-banking deals that Morgan Stanley is pitching or monitoring in Asia. While the disclosure is a reputational concern, the size of the pipeline may signal continued advisory and underwriting activity. Morgan Stanley Investment-Bank Deal List Leaked in Email Misfire
• Positive Sentiment: A reported $720 million Accelevation IPO entering the queue points to a recovering investment-banking cycle, although Morgan Stanley’s role and fee have not been disclosed. More capital-markets activity could support future advisory and underwriting revenue. Morgan Stanley Falls as AI IPO Enters Queue
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley analysts highlighted ServiceTitan, CCC and Via as potential beneficiaries of consumer-agent adoption. The research may reinforce the firm’s technology and thematic-research profile, but it does not represent a direct earnings catalyst for MS. ServiceTitan, CCC and Via Might Receive a Boost From Consumer Agents
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also published a list of “overweight” stocks ahead of earnings season and reiterated that strong earnings and cash flow are increasingly important in a higher-rate environment. This is more relevant to the firm’s research franchise than to near-term company financials. Morgan Stanley Names Its Overweight Stocks to Buy
• Negative Sentiment: A Morgan Stanley staffer reportedly misfired an email containing confidential details about more than 100 investment-banking deals in Asia. The firm apologized and is investigating; potential client, regulatory and reputational consequences likely outweighed the positive signal from the underlying deal pipeline. Morgan Stanley Apologizes for Misfired Email

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.9%

MS stock traded down $1.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $198.31. 4,341,222 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,201,396. 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 12-month low of $151.84 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $213.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $200.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21.

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 return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The company 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 business posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board 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 buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership 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.