Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 132,784 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,156,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 132,784 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.51% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,296,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $414,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 40,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,396,000 after acquiring an additional 3,140 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 29,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 501.6% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 34,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,503,000 after purchasing an additional 28,863 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at $31,464,920. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $165.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $263.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 39.18%.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is pursuing an OCC national trust bank charter to custody crypto — a strategic push that could expand its wealth/trust services and open new fee streams from institutional crypto custody. This is a medium-term positive for MS’s product offering and fee revenue. MS Seeks National Trust Bank Charter: What it Means & Why it Matters
• Positive Sentiment: MS strategists reiterated a bullish U.S. equity stance despite Middle East tensions — they say markets can absorb geopolitical shocks unless oil spikes and stays elevated. That stance supports MS’s trading and wealth-management outlook if risk appetite normalizes. Morgan Stanley Maintains Bullish US Stock Outlook Despite Iran Conflict
• Positive Sentiment: Research momentum: MS research is prominent in the headlines — the firm named Citigroup a top pick and has been reshuffling semiconductor coverage (re-anchoring NVDA as a top chip pick). Visible, actionable research can support MS’s investment-banking and trading franchise and help revenue. Morgan Stanley Names Citigroup Inc. (C) Its Top Pick, Raises Price Target Nvidia (NVDA) Stock Regains Morgan Stanley’s Top Spot in Semiconductor Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley released its monthly sector-rotation study (client flow data). That product-level activity provides color on retail/investor flows (useful for near-term trading revenue signals) but isn’t a direct earnings surprise. E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley Releases Monthly Sector Rotation Study
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market risk-off (tech and semiconductor weakness, plus oil-driven travel & leisure selling) is pressuring bank stocks and trading volumes today; MS is not immune to a pullback in trading/investment-banking activity if risk sentiment persists. See SPY/QQQ weakness driven by big tech/semiconductor moves. SPY is down 2.1% today, on MU stock price movement

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

About Morgan Stanley

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.