Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Sold by Nightview Capital LLC

by · The Cerbat Gem

Nightview Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 22.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,182 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 5.4% of Nightview Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Nightview Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after purchasing an additional 87,533 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,342,532,000 after purchasing an additional 188,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,794,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,611,846,000 after purchasing an additional 422,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,190,585,000 after purchasing an additional 65,739 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MS. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.62.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

  • Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley chief U.S. equity strategist Mike Wilson said the market correction is likely in its “final innings” and projected the S&P 500 could reach 8,500 by mid-2027. The comments support risk appetite and may benefit Morgan Stanley through stronger equity-market activity, investment banking and wealth-management sentiment. Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson market outlook
  • Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was identified as one of the more oversold financial stocks that could offer recovery potential in the fourth quarter. That framing may be encouraging bargain-oriented investors, particularly after the company’s earlier earnings beat and revenue growth. Financial stocks with recovery potential
  • Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage describes analyst opinions on Morgan Stanley as mixed, suggesting investors are balancing attractive valuation and growth prospects with concerns about market sensitivity and financial-sector conditions. Analyst opinions on Morgan Stanley
  • Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets lowered its Morgan Stanley price target from $215 to $210, although it maintained an “Outperform” rating. The reduction limits some of the near-term upside implied by prior expectations, but the continued positive rating remains supportive. BMO lowers Morgan Stanley price target
  • Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis argued that Morgan Stanley’s Series A preferred shares offer an insufficient yield for a compelling allocation. This is more directly relevant to the preferred security than to common shares, but it could weigh modestly on sentiment toward the company’s capital-markets securities. Morgan Stanley Series A preferred shares analysis

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:MS opened at $180.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $284.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $152.80 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $202.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Morgan Stanley

(Free Report)

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.

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