34,714 Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 97.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,714 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $78,825,883,310. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,040,227,000. Cullen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $295,482,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $110,938,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,410,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,092,000 after buying an additional 666,754 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $187.13 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.33. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $152.80 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The firm had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is 36.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Freedom Capital raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.81.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Vinyl Equity adds tools for cap-table management, equity administration and share transfers across private and public markets. The acquisition also includes digital-asset infrastructure, supporting Morgan Stanley’s effort to connect company equity services with its wealth-management business. Financial terms were not disclosed. Morgan Stanley to Acquire Digital-Native Transfer Agent Vinyl Equity
• Positive Sentiment: The strategic rationale is the opportunity to serve companies and employees through the IPO process and beyond. Coverage cited IPO-related flows as a meaningful contributor to Morgan Stanley’s recent wealth-asset inflows, though the potential benefits depend on IPO activity and successful integration of Vinyl. Morgan Stanley buys Vinyl Equity to capture more IPO wealth
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate report says Morgan Stanley is trimming exposure to data-center construction loans as AI financing shifts toward private-credit funds and asset managers. This changes the bank’s exposure to the sector, but the article does not quantify the financial impact. Morgan Stanley Trims Data Center Loan Exposure As AI Financing Shifts

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.

Founded in 1935, Morgan Stanley serves clients in the United States and across international markets, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.