Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 61,613 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,039,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 61,613 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $196,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $78,825,883,310. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,040,227,000. Cullen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $295,482,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $135,899,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $110,938,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,764,830.15. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Top Morgan Stanley Stories

These are some of the MS stories that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital transfer agent that provides share transfers, shareholder recordkeeping and cap-table services. Bringing these capabilities in-house could deepen the firm’s services to corporate clients and strengthen links to its workplace and wealth-management businesses. Why Is Morgan Stanley Bringing Transfer Agency In House?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing Morgan Stanley’s recent digital initiatives, including transfer agency and tokenization, against whether its returns on capital justify its strong multiyear share-price gains. The coverage raises a valuation question but does not report a new change to earnings or guidance. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After New Digital Moves?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares for about $454,000, reducing her stake by 3.72%. The sale is a modest potential sentiment headwind given her substantial remaining holding. Morgan Stanley Director Sells Shares

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.7%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $189.36 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $152.80 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. The stock has a market cap of $295.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $243.00 to $195.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.81.

Morgan Stanley Profile

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.