Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Cuts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 476,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,159 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $75,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,318,055,000 after buying an additional 1,776,544 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,727,000 after buying an additional 1,593,774 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 18.1% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,355,537,000 after buying an additional 1,476,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,142 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named one of the lead banks on the highly visible SpaceX IPO, which should generate sizable investment‑banking fees and boost confidence in MS’s deal pipeline. Elon Musk’s SpaceX lines up 4 banks for blockbuster IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 fundamentals remain supportive — MS recently beat on EPS and revenue, announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend (ex‑div Jan 30), and has strong ROE metrics cited by analysts; those fundamentals underpin longer‑term investor support. Morgan Stanley stock page / Q4 results & dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management staff publicly urged clients not to panic‑sell, messaging designed to stabilize flows and sentiment among retail/wealth clients. That communication can help limit outflows and calm short‑term volatility. ‘Don’t Get Off the Rodeo Bull’: Morgan Stanley Warns Investors Not to Panic Sell
• Neutral Sentiment: Research action from MS — the firm cut Oracle’s target ~30% citing AI infra concerns. This is a research call on a large tech name (shows MS positioning/opinion) but is not a direct company fundamental change for MS itself. Oracle target cut by Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior Morgan Stanley insiders filed Form 4s this week (large sales by executives including Michael Pizzi, Andrew Saperstein, Eric Grossman, Sharon Yeshaya and others). Concentrated insider selling can add short‑term supply and raise investor caution. Insider sale SEC filing (example)

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $179.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $176.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.18. The company has a market cap of $284.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction of $2,942,225.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at $25,135,424.08. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 196,223 shares of company stock valued at $34,150,220 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.