5,069 Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by NFSG Corp

NFSG Corp reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 91.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,069 shares during the period. NFSG Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,686,881,000 after acquiring an additional 87,533 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,342,532,000 after acquiring an additional 188,296 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,794,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,611,846,000 after purchasing an additional 422,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,190,585,000 after purchasing an additional 65,739 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $180.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $285.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.48. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $152.80 and a 52 week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

More 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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $217.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.86.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.