Charles Smith Sells 8,500 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) insider Charles Smith sold 8,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total transaction of $1,547,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,690,826.24. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of MS stock opened at $179.02 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $176.93 and a 200-day moving average of $161.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $192.68. The firm has a market cap of $284.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.18%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named one of the lead banks on the highly visible SpaceX IPO, which should generate sizable investment‑banking fees and boost confidence in MS’s deal pipeline. Elon Musk’s SpaceX lines up 4 banks for blockbuster IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 fundamentals remain supportive — MS recently beat on EPS and revenue, announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend (ex‑div Jan 30), and has strong ROE metrics cited by analysts; those fundamentals underpin longer‑term investor support. Morgan Stanley stock page / Q4 results & dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management staff publicly urged clients not to panic‑sell, messaging designed to stabilize flows and sentiment among retail/wealth clients. That communication can help limit outflows and calm short‑term volatility. ‘Don’t Get Off the Rodeo Bull’: Morgan Stanley Warns Investors Not to Panic Sell
• Neutral Sentiment: Research action from MS — the firm cut Oracle’s target ~30% citing AI infra concerns. This is a research call on a large tech name (shows MS positioning/opinion) but is not a direct company fundamental change for MS itself. Oracle target cut by Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior Morgan Stanley insiders filed Form 4s this week (large sales by executives including Michael Pizzi, Andrew Saperstein, Eric Grossman, Sharon Yeshaya and others). Concentrated insider selling can add short‑term supply and raise investor caution. Insider sale SEC filing (example)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 60,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 107.4% in the 2nd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 22,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,108,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.