Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Andra AP fonden

Andra AP fonden lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,300 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Crown Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the second quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 35.7% during the second quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,724,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank OZK grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank OZK now owns 1,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $243.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are participating in a reported $17.2 billion China technology investment boom, highlighting the firm’s access to cross-border technology and AI-related business opportunities. Goldman, Morgan Stanley Ride China Tech Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley says corporate AI adoption remains in its early stages, suggesting potentially significant long-term opportunities for advisory, financing, investment-management and technology-related revenue as businesses scale AI spending. Morgan Stanley Says AI Adoption Has Barely Started
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s 1GT strategy led a $56 million funding round for Australia-based Amber Electric, demonstrating continued activity in growth equity and climate-focused private investments. Morgan Stanley 1GT Leads Amber Electric Funding Round
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is collaborating with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on a New York investor roadshow, which could support international capital-markets activity but is unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings. ADX Global Investor Roadshow
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are reportedly seeking to withdraw 11.4% of shares from a Morgan Stanley private-credit fund. Elevated redemption requests could raise concerns about liquidity, fee pressure and broader investor appetite for private-market products. Morgan Stanley Private Credit Fund Redemptions
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley to “Hold,” adding to valuation concerns after the stock’s substantial advance and potentially limiting near-term upside expectations. Morgan Stanley Cut to Hold
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategists warned that higher bond yields and elevated oil prices could divert money from equities and weaken consumer spending, creating a less favorable backdrop for trading, asset management and investment banking. Warning of a Big Sell-Off

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.0%

MS traded down $6.21 on Tuesday, reaching $199.91. 3,731,557 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,187,516. The company has a market cap of $315.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $214.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.83. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $151.84 and a 52-week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.