Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Holdings Lifted by Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC

Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 40,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,246 shares during the quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.7% in 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 in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.5% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 278,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,189,000 after buying an additional 33,167 shares in the last quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the second quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 26,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,601,000 after buying an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.2% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 21,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,549,000 after buying an additional 2,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.0% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 327,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,392,000 after buying an additional 15,709 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $212.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $335.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.21. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $151.84 and a 1 year high of $232.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.02.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. 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 (DPR) is presently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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 remains viewed favorably by some analysts and commentators because of its strong investment-banking and wealth-management businesses, recent earnings momentum, and valuation that is still described as attractive relative to other large financial institutions. 4 Thriving Investment Bank Behemoths to Buy With Attractive Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: The firm is partnering with OpenAI to develop ChatGPT-based financial-services tools for Wall Street. The initiative could strengthen Morgan Stanley’s technology position and create longer-term efficiency or client-service benefits, although near-term financial effects remain unclear. OpenAI courts Wall Street with ChatGPT for financial services, developed with Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s latest reported quarter showed strong operating momentum: earnings per share of $3.46 exceeded expectations, revenue reached $21.35 billion, and revenue increased 27.1% year over year. Those results provide fundamental support, but they are not a new catalyst in the current session.
• Negative Sentiment: Market-wide risk aversion is weighing on financial stocks. Morgan Stanley strategists have identified higher oil prices and interest rates as key risks to equities, while rising yields can pressure valuations and reduce investor appetite for economically sensitive stocks. Brent Tops $100 as Morgan Stanley Warns Oil, Rates Are Main Risks to Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: After gaining more than 20% over the past six months, Morgan Stanley may be vulnerable to profit-taking. The latest commentary specifically noted that the stock’s decline was more pronounced than the broader market, suggesting investors are locking in gains or reassessing its valuation rather than responding to a major deterioration in fundamentals. Morgan Stanley Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market

About Morgan Stanley

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.