Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 461,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,680 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $75,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

More Morgan Stanley News

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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.50.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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.