The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,129,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 97,774 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.07% of Morgan Stanley worth $236,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 69.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,661 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 90.9% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,688 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,127,000 after purchasing an additional 15,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the second quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,807 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $212.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $216.00 and a 200-day moving average of $198.02. The company has a market cap of $335.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $151.84 and a 12-month high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.8 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 issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.