Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Lowers Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 476,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,159 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $75,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 623,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,145,000 after buying an additional 13,080 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% in the third quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 19,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $56,000. Rossmore Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the third quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 24,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,969,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,439,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $179.02 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.18. 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 market capitalization of $284.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,464,920. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 196,223 shares of company stock worth $34,150,220. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named one of the lead banks on the highly visible SpaceX IPO, which should generate sizable investment?banking fees and boost confidence in MS’s deal pipeline. Elon Musk’s SpaceX lines up 4 banks for blockbuster IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 fundamentals remain supportive — MS recently beat on EPS and revenue, announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend (ex?div Jan 30), and has strong ROE metrics cited by analysts; those fundamentals underpin longer?term investor support. Morgan Stanley stock page / Q4 results & dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management staff publicly urged clients not to panic?sell, messaging designed to stabilize flows and sentiment among retail/wealth clients. That communication can help limit outflows and calm short?term volatility. ‘Don’t Get Off the Rodeo Bull’: Morgan Stanley Warns Investors Not to Panic Sell
• Neutral Sentiment: Research action from MS — the firm cut Oracle’s target ~30% citing AI infra concerns. This is a research call on a large tech name (shows MS positioning/opinion) but is not a direct company fundamental change for MS itself. Oracle target cut by Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior Morgan Stanley insiders filed Form 4s this week (large sales by executives including Michael Pizzi, Andrew Saperstein, Eric Grossman, Sharon Yeshaya and others). Concentrated insider selling can add short?term supply and raise investor caution. Insider sale SEC filing (example)

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.