NatWest Group plc Boosts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

NatWest Group plc grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 2.1% of NatWest Group plc’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. NatWest Group plc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.8%

MS stock opened at $163.78 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $166.77. The company has a market capitalization of $261.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $154.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.