New York State Common Retirement Fund Acquires 57,591 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,570,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 57,591 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $249,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% during the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% during the 3rd quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total value of $3,691,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 196,223 shares of company stock worth $34,150,220. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $182.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $289.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $178.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.02. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of EquityZen, expanding its private?shares distribution and strengthening Wealth Management’s ability to offer private?market exposure to clients — a revenue and client?retention play for the firm. Morgan Stanley Closes Acquisition of EquityZen
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley named Amy Oldenburg head of digital asset strategy, signaling the bank’s push into crypto ETFs, custody and wallet products — a strategic expansion that could boost fee income if adoption continues. Morgan Stanley appoints digital asset head Amy Oldenburg
• Positive Sentiment: Active research coverage and analyst activity (examples: Morgan Stanley maintaining/upgrading major technology and utility coverage) support trading & research franchise revenue and help drive institutional deal flow. That ongoing analyst footprint can be a steady revenue contributor for the bank. Nvidia: Buy Rated (Morgan Stanley analyst)
• Neutral Sentiment: Visibility / investor relations: Morgan Stanley executives (Wealth head Jed Finn) are speaking at industry conferences and the firm is publicly showcasing its private?market and wealth initiatives — useful for long?term positioning but not an immediate earnings catalyst. Jed Finn to Speak at the UBS Financial Services Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research continues to shape macro and sector calls (e.g., notes on interest?rate driven spending shifts and space/industrial themes). These publications support the bank’s markets and advisory businesses but can produce mixed market reactions. Morgan Stanley expects interest rate trends to shift spending
• Negative Sentiment: Near?term uncertainty and costs: the push into digital assets (crypto ETFs, wallet) plus integrating EquityZen may increase expenses and regulatory/compliance risk in the near term — investors sometimes mark down banks while they absorb integration and build crypto infrastructure. Morgan Stanley appoints digital asset head Amy Oldenburg

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.