Korea Investment CORP Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Korea Investment CORP lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 785,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,347 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $139,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 111.3% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 26,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,696,000 after purchasing an additional 13,934 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 20,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,609,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 25,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,526 shares during the last quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,768.8% in the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 314,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,906,000 after purchasing an additional 298,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 1,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.35.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $187 from $179 while keeping a neutral rating, signaling improved expectations even though the new target still implies downside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s “wide awake” posture on M&A opportunities as the bank pursues a $10 trillion wealth-management ambition, which could support longer-term growth through acquisitions in advisors, private markets, and alternatives.
• Positive Sentiment: Additional reports emphasized Morgan Stanley’s continued strength in wealth management and its willingness to expand through inorganic growth, reinforcing the market’s view that the firm has multiple avenues for revenue growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article noted Morgan Stanley’s stock has climbed near its 52-week high, which may be drawing attention to valuation and limiting upside in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group slightly lowered its FY2026 EPS estimate to $11.97 from $12.00, a minor change that does not appear to have altered the broader bullish tone.
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary continues to frame Morgan Stanley’s valuation as stretched after a strong rally, and the stock’s proximity to its 52-week high may prompt profit-taking.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $214.19 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $337.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $128.81 and a 1-year high of $219.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

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.