Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 758,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,809 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $120,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,494,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,893,590,000 after purchasing an additional 448,960 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,234,883,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,894,023,000 after purchasing an additional 374,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,980,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,659,000 after buying an additional 28,420 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total value of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MS. Evercore downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s market team (Michael Wilson) said the S&P 500 may be “closer to the end” of the recent rolling correction — a call that can lift investor sentiment and boost trading/wealth-management flows that benefit MS. S&P 500: Morgan Stanley says ’we’re closer to the end of this rolling correction’
• Positive Sentiment: The firm announced a restructuring that trims about 2,500 jobs (~3% of workforce) aimed at improving cost efficiency and margins — investors often view targeted cuts as margin-accretion moves that support EPS over time. Morgan Stanley Job Cuts Test Cost Efficiency And Long Term Growth Plan
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research continues to move the tape: the bank raised coverage/targets on names such as Travelers (TRV) and upgraded other stocks, which reinforces MS’s role as a market-moving sell-side franchise that supports fee revenue. Morgan Stanley Raises The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV) Target on Underwriting Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst activity is mixed (upgrades and downgrades across sectors — e.g., Novo Nordisk upgrade, IBM PT cut). That keeps MS prominent on headlines but produces mixed signals for trading flow and reputation effects. Morgan Stanley Upgrades Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) to Equal Weight From Underweight – Here’s Why
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research and wealth teams flag political and geopolitical risks (a published list of seven risks) that could keep volatility elevated — higher volatility can hurt markets and reduce deal activity and asset-gathering. That is a headwind for banks and wealth managers like MS. Morgan Stanley identifies 7 political risks hitting investors

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:MS opened at $160.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $255.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $192.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

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.