Here’s Why Matrix Asset Advisors Invested in Morgan Stanley (MS)

Matrix Asset Advisors, an asset management company, released its second quarter 2022 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, most areas of the market were down. Value and dividend strategies were protective compared to the worst-performing growth sector. The Large Cap Value Portfolio of the fund outperformed its benchmark, the S&P 500, in the second quarter but trailed the Russell 1000 Value Index. Its Matrix Dividend Income portfolio meaningfully outperformed the S&P 500 and the Russell 1000 Value Index benchmarks in the quarter. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2022.

Matrix Asset Advisors Investors discussed stocks like Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter investor letter. Headquartered in New York, New York, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) provides financial products and services. On September 16, 2022, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) stock closed at $87.43 per share. One-month return of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was -1.16% and its shares lost 11.36% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has a market capitalization of $150.102 billion.

Here is what Matrix Asset Advisors specifically said about Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in its Q2 2022 investor letter:

“Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is one of the world’s leading investment banks and wealth management firms. As the company has grown its wealth management business its earnings have become more predictable and valuable. The management team is very shareholder-friendly, allocating funds not needed to grow the business to repurchase shares and raise their dividend. In late June, the company announced an 11% increase in its dividend and a $20 billion multi-year share repurchase program. The company’s annual dividend of $3.10 per share provides a current dividend of 3.7% at the June 30 closing price.”

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Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 58 hedge fund portfolios held Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) at the end of the first quarter which was 61 in the previous quarter.

We discussed Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in another article and shared Sound Shore Management’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2022 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.