Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires 3,706 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 121,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,706 shares during the quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $19,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 97.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,644,000 after purchasing an additional 11,311 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 30,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,905,000 after purchasing an additional 9,619 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,867,000 after buying an additional 9,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 9,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,408,000 after buying an additional 2,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of MS stock opened at $177.47 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $170.50 and a 200-day moving average of $155.80. The stock has a market cap of $282.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $182.34. 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 posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research group continues to move markets — the firm has been active naming core selections and upgrading coverage (examples include Seagate and UiPath), which supports recurring investment-banking/research revenue and reinforces MS’s market influence. Morgan Stanley Names Seagate Core 2026 Selection Morgan Stanley Upgrades UiPath
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research continues to influence sector narratives (e.g., naming Micron a top AI semiconductor pick) and publishing macro/industry forecasts (including AI-related banking job impacts); these reports boost MS’s franchise credibility but are not immediate drivers of MS share moves. The Best AI Semiconductor Stock to Buy for 2026 AI forecast to put 200,000 European banking jobs at risk
• Negative Sentiment: A critical Seeking Alpha piece flags ongoing disappointment at Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (MSDL), raising concerns about asset performance and potential pressure on fee/asset-growth assumptions for MS’s asset management segment — this is a direct negative catalyst for the stock. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending: Continues To Disappoint Going Into 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights analyst disagreement on Morgan Stanley’s outlook vs. peers; mixed analyst views can amplify intraday weakness and uncertainty around valuation. Analysts Conflicted on These Financial Names: Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citigroup (C)

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $184.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Three research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.77.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.