16,732 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS Purchased by Tompkins Financial Corp

Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 16,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,147,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,825,883,310. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $2,040,227,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $295,482,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $110,938,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of MS stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Monday, hitting $190.24. 1,880,591 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,168,471. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $151.84 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $209.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $201.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategists expect an earnings-led improvement in industrial stocks and believe the gap between the S&P 500 and weaker market breadth could narrow. This outlook supports the firm’s investment-banking, trading and wealth-management businesses if market participation and corporate activity broaden. Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Sees Earnings-Led Upturn in Industrials
• Positive Sentiment: The firm’s analysts remain constructive on several companies, including Seagate, Western Digital, Continental and Nvidia. Continued high-profile research activity can reinforce Morgan Stanley’s advisory franchise and potentially benefit investment-banking and institutional-equities revenue. Seagate and Western Digital Stocks Rebound as Morgan Stanley Says Get Aggressive
• Neutral Sentiment: An analysis of Morgan Stanley’s economic moat highlights its shift from a market-dependent trading house toward a more diversified wealth-management and investment-banking model. The assessment is strategically encouraging but does not represent a new earnings forecast or corporate announcement. What is Morgan Stanley’s Economic Moat, and is it Widening or Narrowing?
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley disclosed a substantial reduction in its Polaris position, a portfolio-management decision that may create a modestly negative read-through for sentiment but does not indicate a change in Morgan Stanley’s own fundamentals. Polaris Institutional Holdings Update

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.65.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.