First Trust Advisors LP Trims Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its Morgan Stanley stake by 36.6% in Q3, selling 307,371 shares and retaining 533,089 shares valued at about $84.74 million.
• Company insiders have been selling recently — Daniel Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares (~$6.02M) and CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares (~$2.94M), with insiders offloading 129,191 shares (~$23.74M) over the last 90 days while institutional ownership is 84.19% and insider ownership is 0.19%.
• Morgan Stanley beat quarterly expectations (EPS $2.68 vs. $2.28; revenue $17.90B), declared a $1.00 quarterly dividend (2.5% yield) and announced ~2,500 job cuts to improve margins, with analysts holding a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $185.93.

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 36.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 533,089 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 307,371 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $84,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 3,120 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,102,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 6,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 877 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $6,020,286.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total value of $2,942,225.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. This represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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 Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $160.70 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $192.68. The company's 50-day moving average is $177.81 and its 200 day moving average is $168.14. The company has a market capitalization 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Morgan Stanley to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.

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