Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,990 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northbridge Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northbridge Financial Group LLC now owns 4,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the third quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 4,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the third quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC now owns 5,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 220,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,466,000 after purchasing an additional 5,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s Vinyl Equity acquisition would add digital share-transfer and shareholder-recordkeeping capabilities, connecting companies’ equity administration needs with the firm’s workplace and wealth-management services. The strategic rationale is to deepen relationships with private companies and potentially retain more client assets through IPO transitions. Morgan Stanley to Acquire Digital-Native Transfer Agent Vinyl Equity
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson said the recent market correction may be nearing its end, while advising investors to remain selective. A market rebound could support trading and investment-banking activity, but this is a broad-market view rather than a company-specific forecast. Morgan Stanley strategist on market correction
• Negative Sentiment: Director Judith A. Miscik disclosed selling 2,480 Morgan Stanley shares for about $454,000, reducing her holdings by 3.72%. The sale may weigh slightly on sentiment, though its size is limited relative to her remaining stake. SEC filing of director share sale

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Judith A. Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total transaction of $454,360.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 64,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,764,830.15. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $236.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.81.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2%

MS opened at $187.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.35. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $152.80 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The company has a market capitalization of $293.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The firm 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 19.26% and a net margin of 15.63%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.51%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.