Focused Investors LLC Sells 176,600 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Focused Investors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 927,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 176,600 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises 7.2% of Focused Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Focused Investors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $174,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $8,854,000. Partners Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Partners Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after buying an additional 3,253 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.0% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 279,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,452,000 after buying an additional 30,010 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 201.0% in the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,890,000 after buying an additional 11,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 294,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,468,000 after buying an additional 28,877 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $217.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.81.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $240 from $236 and maintained a Buy rating, implying substantial upside from the reference price in the report. UBS raises Morgan Stanley price target
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is launching a $2.3 billion Baldwin debt offering. The deal may provide underwriting activity and related fee revenue, although the article listing offers limited detail. Morgan Stanley launches Baldwin debt offering
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s market outlook is divided: one strategist sees the election as a potential “clearing event” that could help the selloff end, while other reports flag risks from election uncertainty and fragile technology-stock buying. The outlook matters to MS because market moves can affect trading and wealth-management activity. Morgan Stanley flags a stock-market turning point
• Neutral Sentiment: E*TRADE published its monthly sector-rotation study, highlighting client buying and selling across market sectors; the announcement provides no specific indication of a direct financial impact on MS. E*TRADE sector rotation study
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategists have warned that the S&P 500 could face further losses, with one report citing a possible 9% decline and another describing three potential “clearing events.” Persistent volatility could curb investor activity and pressure market-sensitive businesses. Morgan Stanley warns the S&P 500 could drop

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

MS opened at $185.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $293.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $152.80 and a twelve month high of $232.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $196.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley 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.