Quantbot Technologies LP Sells 17,553 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Quantbot Technologies LP decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,553 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Ibex Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 254.6% in the third quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 32,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,231,000 after buying an additional 23,625 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the third quarter. Allianz SE now owns 88,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,340 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the third quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 147,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 421,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,020,000 after buying an additional 26,161 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 739,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,533,000 after buying an additional 18,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of MS opened at $165.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $263.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $179.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.62.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 39.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Evercore lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at $25,135,424.08. This represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were 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 owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is pursuing an OCC national trust bank charter to custody crypto — a strategic push that could expand its wealth/trust services and open new fee streams from institutional crypto custody. This is a medium-term positive for MS’s product offering and fee revenue. MS Seeks National Trust Bank Charter: What it Means & Why it Matters
• Positive Sentiment: MS strategists reiterated a bullish U.S. equity stance despite Middle East tensions — they say markets can absorb geopolitical shocks unless oil spikes and stays elevated. That stance supports MS’s trading and wealth-management outlook if risk appetite normalizes. Morgan Stanley Maintains Bullish US Stock Outlook Despite Iran Conflict
• Positive Sentiment: Research momentum: MS research is prominent in the headlines — the firm named Citigroup a top pick and has been reshuffling semiconductor coverage (re-anchoring NVDA as a top chip pick). Visible, actionable research can support MS’s investment-banking and trading franchise and help revenue. Morgan Stanley Names Citigroup Inc. (C) Its Top Pick, Raises Price Target Nvidia (NVDA) Stock Regains Morgan Stanley’s Top Spot in Semiconductor Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley released its monthly sector-rotation study (client flow data). That product-level activity provides color on retail/investor flows (useful for near-term trading revenue signals) but isn’t a direct earnings surprise. E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley Releases Monthly Sector Rotation Study
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market risk-off (tech and semiconductor weakness, plus oil-driven travel & leisure selling) is pressuring bank stocks and trading volumes today; MS is not immune to a pullback in trading/investment-banking activity if risk sentiment persists. See SPY/QQQ weakness driven by big tech/semiconductor moves. SPY is down 2.1% today, on MU stock price movement

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.