Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Bought by Danske Bank A S

Danske Bank A S grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 964,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,489 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $181,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ibex Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 36,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,926,000 after acquiring an additional 2,080 shares in the last quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. 10Elms LLP grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. 10Elms LLP now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 37.5% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 31.3% during the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 6,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are a few of the latest headlines about MS:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital transfer agent, bringing share-transfer and recordkeeping capabilities in-house. The deal could deepen its wealth-management services and reduce reliance on outside providers, although financial benefits may take time to emerge. Why Is Morgan Stanley Bringing Transfer Agency In House?
• Positive Sentiment: One report noted that Morgan Stanley recorded a modest inflow while U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced broad withdrawals—a relative bright spot for its digital-asset offering. Bitcoin ETF Outflows
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary questioned whether the bank’s strong three-year share-price gains and current valuation are justified by returns on capital. Its tokenization and digital-transfer initiatives may create longer-term opportunities, but their effect on profitability remains uncertain. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After New Digital Moves?

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $190.57. The company had a trading volume of 4,446,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,403,792. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $152.80 and a twelve month high of $232.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $297.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $192.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 15.63%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total value of $454,360.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 64,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,764,830.15. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.