Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 15,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,513,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,318,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,544 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593,774 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 18.1% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,355,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,372 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares during the last quarter. 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 is expanding in Asia to capture deregulation, rising IPO activity and higher trading volumes — a strategic push that could lift fee income, underwriting and trading revenue over the medium term. Morgan Stanley (MS) Eyes Asia Expansion amid Deregulation and Market Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research and macro desks flag continued strength in carry trades (selling dollars, buying EM currencies) — a tailwind for fixed‑income and FX trading revenues if the dollar weakness persists. That macro view supports optimism about trading volumes and client flows. Morgan Stanley, BofA see more in best carry rally since 2009
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary highlighting Morgan Stanley’s franchise strength and regulatory shifts has reinforced longer‑term upside narratives around its wealth and advisory franchise — supportive for investor sentiment on durable earnings and multiple expansion. Morgan Stanley’s (MS) Franchise Strength and Regulatory Shifts Fuel Long-Term Upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research lifted its bull case on gold as prices surged — a signal of influential research that can move markets and trading flows, but not a direct near‑term earnings driver for the bank. Gold Vaults Past $5,000 as Morgan Stanley Lifts Bull Case to $5,700
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund set an earnings/Q4 call — routine corporate reporting that may affect the fund’s holders but has limited direct impact on MS’s consolidated results. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Sets Q4 2025 Earnings Call
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple filings reported insider selling by Morgan Stanley executives in recent days — headline risk that can pressure sentiment short‑term even if sales are for diversification or tax purposes. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) CFO Sells $2,942,225.26 in Stock

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 196,223 shares of company stock valued at $34,150,220. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $181.85 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $177.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.59. The company has a market capitalization of $289.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, January 16th. Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given 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 an average price target of $185.93.

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.