Chung Wu Investment Group LLC Has $1.54 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Chung Wu Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 643.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,360 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.3% of Chung Wu Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,776,544 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,727,000 after buying an additional 1,593,774 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.1% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $182.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $290.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.57. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $192.68.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights Morgan Stanley’s wealth & asset-management business as a durable, recurring-revenue engine that now accounts for the majority of firm revenues — a structural strength that supports more predictable fee income and helps justify a higher multiple for MS. MS Wealth & Asset Management Moat
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat/AmericanBankingNews notes the brokerage consensus on MS is “Moderate Buy,” reflecting broad analyst support after the company’s January quarter results and forward outlook — analyst backing tends to support upward price moves. Consensus Recommendation: Moderate Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: President Trump’s reported selection of former Fed governor Kevin Warsh as the nominee for Fed chair (Warsh has Morgan Stanley banking ties) is being discussed in the market; any perceived “connection” is indirect and more reputational than financial for MS, so impact is uncertain/likely muted. Warsh Named as Fed Chair
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage notes and commentary by Morgan Stanley strategists (e.g., observations on bond-market dislocations and sector calls) underline the firm’s active research and trading flow — positive for fee and trading revenue over time but not an immediate catalyst. Morgan Stanley Exec on Bond Market
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: MS insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares at about $182.61 (~$6.0M). The trade reduces his stake materially (reported ~8.45% of his holdings) — sizable insider sales can create short-term selling pressure or signal personal liquidity needs, though one sale alone is not definitive about firm fundamentals. Insider Sale Filing

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Dbs Bank raised Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of 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 given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

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.