Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Holdings Lifted by Cwm LLC

Cwm LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 127,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,199 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $53,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.9% in the first quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 139.1% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 56,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,611,000 after acquiring an additional 32,960 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 64.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2%

MS stock opened at $181.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $289.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $182.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.The company had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Key Morgan Stanley News

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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Dbs Bank raised Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.77.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.