Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. Buys Shares of 47,734 Morgan Stanley $MS

Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 47,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,978,000. Morgan Stanley comprises 6.4% of Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 143.4% in the second quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. CICC Research upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.75.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwinds support the outlook: Zacks identified Morgan Stanley among investment banks positioned to benefit from increased technology spending, active trading, and stronger underwriting and advisory activity. These trends could support revenue growth across wealth management and institutional securities. 3 Investment Bank Stocks Set to Benefit From Industry Tailwinds
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings momentum remains a fundamental support: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results showed adjusted earnings per share of $3.46, well above the $2.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. However, these results were released earlier and do not represent a fresh trading catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment-banking activity remains visible: Morgan Stanley was listed among institutional buyers in recent Indian transactions involving Purple Style Labs and Lenskart. These deals may generate advisory or underwriting revenue, but the announcements do not appear material enough to directly affect MS shares. Purple Style Raises Funds Ahead of IPO

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1%

MS stock opened at $214.69 on Friday. 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 has a 1-year low of $145.65 and a 1-year high of $232.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.32. The company has a market capitalization of $338.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.