Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Makes New $519,000 Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own analysts highlighted supportive themes in other names, including stronger earnings, M&A momentum, and constructive AI/cloud spending trends, which reinforces the firm’s research credibility and may help sentiment around MS’s advisory and markets businesses.
• Positive Sentiment: The bank has been cited in recent commentary about a potential M&A boom and a strong first half for Wall Street, which could support expectations for investment banking and deal-related fees at Morgan Stanley (MS). Morgan Stanley stock in focus as Goldman Sachs predicts an M&A boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was also mentioned as part of broader market coverage around strong U.S. banking results and analyst upgrades, but these items were not direct company-specific catalysts for MS.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock has faced some pressure from investors focusing more on what Morgan Stanley is saying about the market than on MS itself, especially AI spending, which is seen as huge but potentially less immediately profitable for U.S. investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent industry-wide risk-off trading and weakness across mega-cap tech and the Nasdaq have also weighed on financial stocks, limiting upside in Morgan Stanley (MS) despite its strong fundamentals.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.5%

MS stock opened at $215.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $213.50 and a 200 day moving average of $189.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $339.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $136.17 and a 52 week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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 net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company 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 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.50.

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.