Andra AP fonden Has $31.55 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Andra AP fonden lowered its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 150,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,300 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $78,825,883,310. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,736,648,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,040,227,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 142.4% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $511,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $295,482,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MS. Citigroup increased 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. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.75.

Key Stories 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 Performance

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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The company had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.