UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Purchases 13,080 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 623,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,080 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 0.6% of UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $99,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,318,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,544 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593,774 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,355,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,779,734,000 after buying an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $179.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average is $176.93 and its 200-day moving average is $161.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

More Morgan Stanley News

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)

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total value of $3,691,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 196,223 shares of company stock valued at $34,150,220. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.