Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Holdings Lifted by Cwm LLC

Cwm LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 127,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,199 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $184.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.77.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain supportive: Morgan Stanley reported a strong October-quarter beat (EPS and revenue above consensus) and year-over-year revenue growth, which underpins investor confidence in its wealth-management and investment-banking franchises.
• Positive Sentiment: Broader market tech strength (led by NVDA and other QQQ constituents) helps trading and markets-related revenue and can lift MS shares via improved trading volumes and market-making results. QQQ up on NVDA
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley appears in several institutional/hedge-fund activity notes as a large manager that has trimmed certain positions (for example, reported reductions in some EV/auto holdings). Those portfolio moves signal active rebalancing by its asset-management arm but are not a direct company fundamental change. Rivian article showing MS as an institutional holder
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing price coverage and market commentary (domestic and international outlets) keep MS in investors’ screens; Economic Times published a market page on MS that may contribute to intraday interest. Morgan Stanley share price (Economic Times)
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and liquidity considerations: today’s traded volume is below the stock’s recent average, and MS sits near its 52-week high — both can make moves choppier and more sensitive to profit-taking or any short-term headline. (Background trading and balance-sheet ratios shared in the market snapshot suggest investors should watch volatility.)
• Negative Sentiment: Some institutional flows cited across the feed show large portfolio rotations (buyers and sellers across many names). That mixed institutional activity can create short-term headwinds for bank stocks if risk-on flows reverse.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $181.98 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $182.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $289.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.65.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

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.