Morgan Stanley $MS Stock: AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Trims Holdings

Key Points

• AEGON Asset Management UK cut its Morgan Stanley stake by 4.9%, selling 38,480 shares and retaining 746,215 shares valued at about $140.3 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported quarterly EPS of $3.03, topping the $2.93 consensus, while revenue rose 11.6% year over year to $20.34 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 2.5%; analysts’ average rating was “Moderate Buy,” with a $214.81 average price target.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 746,215 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 38,480 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.4% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $140,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.7% during the third quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 59,540 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,198,000 after buying an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 43.2% in the third quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 14,410 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,710,000 after buying an additional 4,344 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.9% in the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 55,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,450,000 after buying an additional 6,353 shares during the period. Finally, Palacios Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the third quarter. Palacios Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $187.13 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.33. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $152.80 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $295.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.51%.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Vinyl Equity adds tools for cap-table management, equity administration and share transfers across private and public markets. The acquisition also includes digital-asset infrastructure, supporting Morgan Stanley’s effort to connect company equity services with its wealth-management business. Financial terms were not disclosed. Morgan Stanley to Acquire Digital-Native Transfer Agent Vinyl Equity
• Positive Sentiment: The strategic rationale is the opportunity to serve companies and employees through the IPO process and beyond. Coverage cited IPO-related flows as a meaningful contributor to Morgan Stanley’s recent wealth-asset inflows, though the potential benefits depend on IPO activity and successful integration of Vinyl. Morgan Stanley buys Vinyl Equity to capture more IPO wealth
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate report says Morgan Stanley is trimming exposure to data-center construction loans as AI financing shifts toward private-credit funds and asset managers. This changes the bank’s exposure to the sector, but the article does not quantify the financial impact. Morgan Stanley Trims Data Center Loan Exposure As AI Financing Shifts

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MS. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

Founded in 1935, Morgan Stanley serves clients in the United States and across international markets, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

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