10,038 Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 275,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,038 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $51,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,686,881,000 after acquiring an additional 87,533 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,342,532,000 after purchasing an additional 188,296 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $2,040,227,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,190,585,000 after acquiring an additional 65,739 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MS. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, October 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.43.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reported adjusted earnings of $3.03 per share and revenue of $20.34 billion, exceeding analyst estimates of $2.93 and $19.93 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 11.6% year over year, while net income attributable to the firm rose to approximately $4.9 billion. Morgan Stanley Reports Third-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Equities trading revenue surged 41%, helping offset weaker fixed-income markets. Wealth Management also delivered record revenue of roughly $9.1 billion, added $232.4 billion in net new assets and reached approximately $10.5 trillion in client assets. IPO-related activity was a major contributor to new asset flows. Morgan Stanley Q3 Earnings Call Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: The board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, equivalent to $4.60 annually and a yield of about 2.5%. Morgan Stanley also repurchased approximately $1.54 billion of common stock, while its standardized CET1 capital ratio stood at 14.9%. Morgan Stanley Declares Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings beat was heavily dependent on equities trading, which may be difficult to repeat. Fixed-income trading revenue declined as Treasury yields rose and bond-market volatility reduced client activity. Wall Street Banks Trading Revenue Report
• Negative Sentiment: Investors appeared concerned that higher compensation costs, increased loan-loss provisions and relatively modest investment-banking growth made the quarter less durable beneath the headline numbers. Broader pressure on bank stocks from hotter inflation data and rising yields added to the caution.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent weakness has left MS well below its 52-week high and near its 50- and 200-day moving averages, increasing sensitivity to concerns about valuation and the cooling outlook for mergers and IPOs.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $181.65 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $152.80 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The company has a market capitalization of $286.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day moving average of $205.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buy back $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.