Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 155,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,119 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $24,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 9,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 5,843,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $815,177,000 after acquiring an additional 643,591 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,629,000. Finally, Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.
Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley
Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s bullish market view — the firm published a year?ahead outlook (S&P target) and is signaling continued upside in markets, which supports trading and deal activity expectations. Stock Market Bulls Should ‘Temper Their Exuberance,’ Warns Morgan Stanley
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst momentum: Morgan Stanley teams have been upping targets and upgrading names (Apple, Cisco, DexCom, L3Harris, SNX among others). Active, well?regarded research can drive trading volumes, institutional flows and advisory mandate momentum — a plus for MS’s revenue mix. Morgan Stanley Boosts Apple (AAPL) Target, Sees Upside From Pricing Power and AI
- Positive Sentiment: Strategic growth: coverage noting Morgan Stanley’s expanding ETF platform and deal franchise — if realized, this supports higher fee revenue and diversifies earnings beyond trading. That thesis is lifting investor sentiment about MS’s structural growth. Does Morgan Stanley’s Expanding ETF And Deal Franchise Reshape The Bull Case For MS?
- Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reduced its substantial?holder stake in Arafura Rare Earths — a housekeeping disclosure that has little bearing on MS’s core operating results. Morgan Stanley Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in Arafura Rare Earths
- Negative Sentiment: Selective caution: Morgan Stanley publicly warned investors to “temper exuberance” and outlined macro surprises that could trip up markets — this caution could reduce risk?taking and trading volumes if the market pivots. Here are the macro surprises that Morgan Stanley says could trip up investors next year
- Negative Sentiment: Research repositioning: reports that Morgan Stanley “dropped” some tech names from its 2026 buy list signal a more selective stance; that could temper short?term trading activity in affected sectors. Morgan Stanley drops tech stocks to buy list for 2026
Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $184.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.77.
Read Our Latest Report on Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE MS opened at $179.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $285.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $181.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $167.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.42.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, 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 issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.
About Morgan Stanley
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.
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