Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Holdings Lessened by Quilter Plc

Quilter Plc cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 47.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,461 shares during the quarter. Quilter Plc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $788,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% during the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 91.9% in the third quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $179.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $176.93 and its 200-day 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. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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 return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The company 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 company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

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)

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 196,223 shares of company stock valued at $34,150,220. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Three research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

About Morgan Stanley

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.