Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Has $3.32 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 29.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,625 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for 2.3% of Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Atlatl Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.0%

MS opened at $217.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $141.03 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $216.84 and its 200 day moving average is $193.08. The stock has a market cap of $342.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MS shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.75.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan increased their holdings of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs during the second quarter and added exposure to Solana and XRP products. The activity reinforces Morgan Stanley’s expansion into digital-asset products, which could support future fee and client-asset growth. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan load up on crypto ETFs
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among five banks advising Carlyle-backed Quest Global on a potential India IPO of up to $1 billion. The mandate could generate advisory and underwriting fees while highlighting the firm’s international capital-markets franchise. Quest Global selects banks for India IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised its earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley, providing a supportive analyst signal following the company’s strong recent quarterly results. Erste Group lifts Morgan Stanley earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley adopted a more constructive view of U.S. IT hardware, citing “chipflation” and faster enterprise spending. The research may benefit the firm’s advisory and trading activity, but it is not a direct change to Morgan Stanley’s earnings outlook. Morgan Stanley turns bullish on IT hardware
• Negative Sentiment: A critical report on Morgan Stanley’s direct-lending business raised concerns about recent results and credit-market risks. Although details were limited, the negative coverage may weigh on sentiment toward the firm’s private-credit operations. Morgan Stanley direct lending results

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.