Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. Buys New Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 377,085,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $78,825,883,310,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 100.0% of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Morgan Stanley at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $8,854,000. KTF Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,945,000. Arsenal Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $814,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 201.0% during the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 11,726 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 132.1% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 28,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,087,000 after purchasing an additional 16,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE MS opened at $218.63 on Tuesday. 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 has a 52 week low of $141.03 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $216.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.33. The company has a market cap of $344.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s strategists said earnings growth is broadening beyond mega-cap technology, favoring quality companies, AI adopters, large-cap financials and consumer discretionary stocks. The outlook supports sentiment toward Morgan Stanley’s own wealth-management and capital-markets businesses. Morgan Stanley Favours Quality, AI Adopters and Financials as Earnings Growth Broadens
• Positive Sentiment: General Atlantic has revived plans for a potential IPO as soon as this year, with JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley involved. A renewed IPO market could increase Morgan Stanley’s underwriting, advisory and trading revenue opportunities. General Atlantic Reignites IPO Plans With JPMorgan, Goldman and Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley has reportedly increased exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded products, signaling a deeper push into digital-asset offerings. The move could broaden products and fee revenue, although it also introduces additional market and regulatory risk. Morgan Stanley’s Bigger Crypto ETF Bet Might Change The Case For Investing in Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley declared regular dividends on several preferred-stock series, payable in September and October. The payments reinforce the firm’s capital-return profile but do not directly change the outlook for common-stock earnings. Morgan Stanley preferred-stock dividend declarations
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also completed roughly $7.54 million of senior unsecured medium-term note offerings with fixed coupons of 4.650% to 5.200%. The issuance supports liquidity and funding flexibility, but adds interest expense and leverage exposure. Morgan Stanley’s Bigger Crypto ETF Bet Might Change The Case For Investing in Morgan Stanley

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MS. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $243.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.75.

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.