Andra AP fonden Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Andra AP fonden lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 783.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 173,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 153,623 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $28,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after acquiring an additional 8,512 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 679.8% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,000 after purchasing an additional 36,963 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 965,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,866,000 after purchasing an additional 67,613 shares during the period. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,260,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 646,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,102,000 after purchasing an additional 65,246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $210.98 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $212.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $136.17 and a 12 month high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly 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 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. 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 payout ratio is currently 32.34%.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is being recognized as a leader in financing AI-related debt deals, suggesting stronger underwriting and advisory revenue tied to data-center expansion. Morgan Stanley becomes Wall Street’s top bank for AI debt deals
• Positive Sentiment: New coverage from market outlets also pointed to Morgan Stanley as constructive on broader macro and sector opportunities, including semiconductor and commodity trends, which can help sentiment around its research and client franchise. MarketWatch chip stocks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst notes and rating updates continued to support expectations for solid earnings, with recent reports raising price targets and forecast estimates for fiscal 2026 and beyond. Morgan Stanley upgraded at Freedom Capital
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the positive business headlines, the stock was under pressure in a broader risk-off session, which can weigh on large financials even when company-specific news is favorable.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $243.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.60.

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.