Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 45.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,619 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $2,234,883,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $343,236,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.4% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,318,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,544 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,727,000 after buying an additional 1,593,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 18.1% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,355,537,000 after buying an additional 1,476,372 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Earnings beat and revenue growth. Morgan Stanley reported fiscal results that materially beat expectations (Q3 EPS $2.80 vs. $2.07 est.; revenue $17.98B vs. $16.42B), with revenue up ~18.5% year-over-year — supporting the stock’s strength through higher margins and fee income from markets and wealth management.
• Positive Sentiment: Research flow — Regeneron policy-risk update. Morgan Stanley’s equity research flagged policy risks for Regeneron (REGN) as receding, a sign that MS analysts are actively updating sector views; stronger, timely research can boost trading volumes and institutional client engagement. Morgan Stanley Sees Policy Risks Receding for Regeneron (REGN)
• Positive Sentiment: Upgrades/coverage — Bunge (BG) outlook. Morgan Stanley upgraded Bunge to Overweight and highlighted Viterra synergy upside, illustrating active coverage that can translate into underwriting/advisory opportunities and trading commissions when these coverage calls move markets. Morgan Stanley Highlights Viterra Synergy Upside in Bunge’s (BG) Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Asset-management repositioning — Rivian stake reduction. Morgan Stanley (as an institutional investor) trimmed its Rivian (RIVN) holding by ~3.6M shares (~30% of that position), a portfolio move that reflects MS Investment Management rebalancing; impact on MS revenue/AUM is likely modest but it signals active risk management. Rivian stock coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Research presence across names. Morgan Stanley appears frequently as an initiating/updating analyst on a range of large-cap names (Comcast, Broadcom, Dell, etc.) — positive for fee and trading flow but not an immediate driver of MS equity moves unless tied to a major M&A or trading surge.
• Negative Sentiment: Leverage / liquidity metrics to monitor. The bank’s reported ratios show leverage and liquidity features investors watch: current ratio and quick ratio around 0.79 and a debt-to-equity near 3.27. While typical for large financial firms, these numbers underscore sensitivity to funding/interest-rate environments and are a potential risk if market stress rises.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $181.98 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $182.34. The company has a market capitalization of $289.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.77.

Morgan Stanley 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.