Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan Grows Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,911 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $33,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $8,854,000. Arsenal Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $814,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 201.0% in the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,890,000 after acquiring an additional 11,726 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 71,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,724,000 after acquiring an additional 11,588 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 9,171,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,628,244,000 after purchasing an additional 83,472 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwinds support the outlook: Zacks identified Morgan Stanley among investment banks positioned to benefit from increased technology spending, active trading, and stronger underwriting and advisory activity. These trends could support revenue growth across wealth management and institutional securities. 3 Investment Bank Stocks Set to Benefit From Industry Tailwinds
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings momentum remains a fundamental support: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results showed adjusted earnings per share of $3.46, well above the $2.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. However, these results were released earlier and do not represent a fresh trading catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment-banking activity remains visible: Morgan Stanley was listed among institutional buyers in recent Indian transactions involving Purple Style Labs and Lenskart. These deals may generate advisory or underwriting revenue, but the announcements do not appear material enough to directly affect MS shares. Purple Style Raises Funds Ahead of IPO

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MS. CICC Research raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. HSBC increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MS opened at $214.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $338.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. 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 has a one year low of $145.65 and a one year high of $232.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business 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 company earned $2.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Morgan Stanley

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.