Morgan Stanley $MS Holdings Lessened by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,039,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 61,613 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Morgan Stanley worth $196,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $78,825,883,310. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,040,227,000. Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $295,482,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $135,899,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $110,938,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

Investors following MS have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital transfer agent that provides share transfers, shareholder recordkeeping and cap-table services. Bringing these capabilities in-house could deepen the firm’s services to corporate clients and strengthen links to its workplace and wealth-management businesses. Why Is Morgan Stanley Bringing Transfer Agency In House?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing Morgan Stanley’s recent digital initiatives, including transfer agency and tokenization, against whether its returns on capital justify its strong multiyear share-price gains. The coverage raises a valuation question but does not report a new change to earnings or guidance. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After New Digital Moves?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares for about $454,000, reducing her stake by 3.72%. The sale is a modest potential sentiment headwind given her substantial remaining holding. Morgan Stanley Director Sells Shares

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total value of $454,360.80. Following the sale, the director owned 64,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,764,830.15. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (down from $250.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Freedom Capital upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.81.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $189.36 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $193.28 and a 200-day moving average of $194.44. The company has a market capitalization of $295.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $152.80 and a 1 year high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.26%. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.51%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. Its Institutional Securities business offers services such as financial advisory, capital raising, sales and trading, and research. The company also provides financial planning, brokerage and banking services through its Wealth Management business, while its Investment Management business offers investment strategies and portfolio management to a range of clients.