Morgan Stanley $MS Holdings Boosted by Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc.

Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 532.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,395 shares during the quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $8,854,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 201.0% during the 1st quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,890,000 after acquiring an additional 11,726 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 294,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,468,000 after purchasing an additional 28,877 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 279,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,452,000 after purchasing an additional 30,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,422,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,635,000 after purchasing an additional 287,056 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Record wealth-management results, including approximately $9.1 billion in revenue, strong net new assets and $10.5 trillion in wealth assets, reinforced Morgan Stanley’s long-term growth strategy. Morgan Stanley Q3 profit hits $4.9bn on wealth gains and IPO inflows
• Positive Sentiment: Equities trading revenue surged 41% year over year, helping drive the earnings and revenue outperformance. Management also highlighted opportunities from AI financing and disciplined capital allocation. Morgan Stanley Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Wealth and AI Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, equivalent to $4.60 annually and a stated yield of about 2.5%, providing ongoing shareholder support.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed: JPMorgan raised its target to $198 while maintaining a Neutral rating, but Citigroup, TD Cowen and KBW lowered their targets to $190, $205 and $230, respectively. Morgan Stanley Analysts Cut Their Forecasts After Q3 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Investors appeared concerned that growth was concentrated in equities and trading, while profitability metrics and the business mix were less compelling. The strong beat therefore did not translate into higher valuation expectations. Morgan Stanley Beats on Earnings, But Shares Fall on Trading Mix

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $1.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $180.73. 5,644,483 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,073,885. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $152.80 and a one year high of $232.25. The stock has a market cap of $285.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $204.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $203.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buy back $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 37.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. HSBC increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price (down from $250.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.86.

Morgan Stanley 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.