Copeland Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Copeland Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 159,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,767 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $25,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,387,005,000 after purchasing an additional 749,150 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,234,883,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,894,023,000 after buying an additional 374,711 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,980,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,659,000 after buying an additional 28,420 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MS. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $184.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.77.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $179.85 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $182.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market cap of $285.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $169.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.14.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research group named Western Digital (WDC) a 2026 top pick — a reminder that MS’s equity research is active and influential, supporting trading & investment-banking flow and recurring client engagement. Morgan Stanley Names Western Digital (WDC) a 2026 Top Pick Amid Cloud Capital Expenditure Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage and analyst activity continue across sectors (healthcare, utilities, data centers), reinforcing MS’s research/revenue mix and institutional relationships—a structural positive for fee and trading businesses. Example coverage includes Zoetis, PG&E, Vistra and Grail. Zoetis (ZTS) Positioned Within Morgan Stanley’s 2026 Healthcare Playbook
• Neutral Sentiment: MS itself is in the headlines as a trending stock (investor attention can increase short-term volatility but isn’t a directional fundamental). Zacks and other outlets have recently highlighted MS for investor interest. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Morgan Stanley (MS) is a Trending Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple Morgan Stanley analyst notes (resumed coverage, target changes across consumer and financial names) signal ongoing research-driven flow but are company-agnostic for MS’s own stock in the near term. Example: resumed coverage of Unilever and target moves on Diageo/Manulife. Morgan Stanley Resumes Coverage of Unilever (UL) with an Overweight View
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional activity tied to Morgan Stanley shows portfolio trimming in some names (e.g., Morgan Stanley reduced its TSLA holdings in recent filings), which can create perception of risk-taking reduction or repositioning by MS-managed funds. That may weigh on sentiment for the firm’s asset-management/trading outlook. $TSLA stock is down 3% today. Here’s what we see in our data.
• Negative Sentiment: TipRanks reports Morgan Stanley ceased to be a substantial holder in West African Resources — a visible example of MS trimming positions that can feed short-term headlines and investor caution even if not material to MS’s financials. Morgan Stanley Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in West African Resources

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.