Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 6,708 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Nisa Investment Advisors reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 1.3%, selling 6,708 shares and retaining 491,849 shares valued at approximately $92.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.03 EPS and $20.34 billion in revenue, with revenue up 11.6% year over year and return on equity at 19.4%.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $214.62. Morgan Stanley also authorized a $20 billion share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share.

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 491,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,708 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $92,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,890,474 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $355,560,000 after purchasing an additional 56,886 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,303,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Blue Jean Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the third quarter. Blue Jean Financial LLC now owns 9,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,702,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.0% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 9,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,812,000 after buying an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 55 North Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $671,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $243.00 to $195.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.62.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Chief U.S. equity strategist Mike Wilson said the recent market correction is likely in its “final innings” and projected the S&P 500 could reach 8,500 by mid-2027. His recommendation for investors to prepare to add risk may support Morgan Stanley’s wealth-management, investment-banking and trading businesses by improving client confidence and market activity. Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson market outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage has highlighted Morgan Stanley as an oversold financial stock with potential for a fourth-quarter rebound. That positioning may be encouraging bargain hunters, particularly given the company’s recent earnings beat, revenue growth and nearly 20% return on equity. Oversold financial stocks article
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets lowered its Morgan Stanley price target to $210 from $215 but maintained an “Outperform” rating, implying analysts still see upside while modestly reducing their valuation expectations. Separate coverage described analyst opinions on MS as mixed, suggesting the stock’s recovery could remain sensitive to valuation and market conditions. Mixed analyst opinions on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $180.24 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $202.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $152.80 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley NYSE: MS is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.