Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 2,468 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 11th, 2023

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 32,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,468 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Manhattan Co. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the third quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 40,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,220,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 328.6% during the third quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 30,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 23,029 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at about $625,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 60.9% during the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 1,260,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,592,000 after purchasing an additional 477,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 479.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,390,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,862,000 after buying an additional 1,150,483 shares in the last quarter. 83.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Alistair Darling sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.70, for a total value of $189,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,465 shares in the company, valued at $3,263,835.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Alistair Darling sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.70, for a total value of $189,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,263,835.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total value of $2,412,135.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 190,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,706,921.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 341,699 shares of company stock worth $33,143,046. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.28.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $90.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $72.05 and a one year high of $100.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.87.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 16.73% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $12.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were issued a $0.775 dividend. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 50.49%.

About Morgan Stanley

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.