Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Trims Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,278 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $13,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.4% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,318,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776,544 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 319.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593,774 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.1% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,355,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,779,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s market team (Michael Wilson) said the S&P 500 may be “closer to the end” of the recent rolling correction — a call that can lift investor sentiment and boost trading/wealth-management flows that benefit MS. S&P 500: Morgan Stanley says ’we’re closer to the end of this rolling correction’
• Positive Sentiment: The firm announced a restructuring that trims about 2,500 jobs (~3% of workforce) aimed at improving cost efficiency and margins — investors often view targeted cuts as margin-accretion moves that support EPS over time. Morgan Stanley Job Cuts Test Cost Efficiency And Long Term Growth Plan
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research continues to move the tape: the bank raised coverage/targets on names such as Travelers (TRV) and upgraded other stocks, which reinforces MS’s role as a market-moving sell-side franchise that supports fee revenue. Morgan Stanley Raises The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV) Target on Underwriting Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst activity is mixed (upgrades and downgrades across sectors — e.g., Novo Nordisk upgrade, IBM PT cut). That keeps MS prominent on headlines but produces mixed signals for trading flow and reputation effects. Morgan Stanley Upgrades Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) to Equal Weight From Underweight – Here’s Why
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research and wealth teams flag political and geopolitical risks (a published list of seven risks) that could keep volatility elevated — higher volatility can hurt markets and reduce deal activity and asset-gathering. That is a headwind for banks and wealth managers like MS. Morgan Stanley identifies 7 political risks hitting investors

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $160.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.14. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 39.18%.

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.