Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 36.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,605 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,648,354,000 after acquiring an additional 3,364,080 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $511,723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,844 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,683 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $214.11 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $213.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $136.17 and a 1 year high of $232.25. The stock has a market cap of $337.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The company 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 firm posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.34%.

Morgan Stanley announced 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. CICC Research increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.50.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s recent earnings results were strong, with the firm beating estimates on both EPS and revenue and posting robust year-over-year growth, which supports the stock’s longer-term fundamental case.
• Positive Sentiment: The company continues to receive constructive Wall Street commentary, including a “Moderate Buy” consensus and recent bullish analyst coverage tied to its earnings power and capital markets franchise.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent headlines also pointed to Morgan Stanley’s wealth management unit attracting new assets tied to SpaceX IPO interest, which reinforces the strength of its wealth and investment management businesses.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated market stories involving Morgan Stanley analyst calls on other stocks, plus broader AI/capex and earnings-driven volatility across large-cap tech and financials, may be influencing sentiment around MS indirectly.

Morgan Stanley 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.