FourThought Financial LLC Lowers Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Posted by on Mar 16th, 2023

FourThought Financial LLC cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 245 shares during the period. FourThought Financial LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 68.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,416,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,455,083,000 after acquiring an additional 7,514,505 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,389,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $790,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566,606 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,955,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $757,219,000 after acquiring an additional 166,221 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,074,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $618,303,000 after acquiring an additional 67,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.6% in the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,163,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,806,000 after acquiring an additional 539,483 shares in the last quarter. 83.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $85.39 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $72.05 and a 1 year high of $100.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37. 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 (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $12.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.16 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 16.73%. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 31st were issued a $0.775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 50.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Wolfe Research cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Odeon Capital Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $88.75 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.28.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Alistair Darling sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 other Morgan Stanley news, Director Alistair Darling sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.70, for a total transaction of $189,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,465 shares in the company, valued at $3,263,835.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 5,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $494,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 118,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,500,126. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 341,699 shares of company stock worth $33,143,046. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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