245,599 Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Pzena Investment Management LLC

Pzena Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 54.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 208,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 245,599 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $39,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after purchasing an additional 87,533 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the second 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 valued at $2,342,532,000 after purchasing an additional 188,296 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $2,040,227,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,190,585,000 after purchasing an additional 65,739 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $194.01 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $196.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.34. The company has a market cap of $306.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $152.80 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $236.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Freedom Capital raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.81.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among the first major institutions to use the DTCC’s new tokenization service, converting U.S. equities and Treasuries into tokenized form. The move could position the firm to benefit as financial markets adopt blockchain-based infrastructure, though the revenue impact is not yet clear. Wall Street’s Plumbing Goes Onchain as Morgan Stanley Tokenizes Securities
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is helping lead Meta’s planned €9 billion debut euro bond sale, which drew strong investor demand. The underwriting work may provide fee income and reflects active debt-capital-markets business. Meta draws record orders for debut euro bond sale
• Positive Sentiment: A UBS analyst report cited in the news flow expects Morgan Stanley shares to rise, adding an upbeat analyst view; the provided article details do not specify the rationale or target. Morgan Stanley Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s market commentary warned that stocks could face further weakness before election uncertainty clears, and said recent technology buying may reflect short covering rather than durable investor conviction. Such volatility could weigh on trading sentiment and market-sensitive businesses. Morgan Stanley Flags Major Turn in the AI Trade

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.