Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,658,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 74,900 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.54% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,376,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in 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 period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 581,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,407,000 after buying an additional 21,458 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 30,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,905,000 after acquiring an additional 9,619 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth $5,417,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 196,223 shares of company stock valued at $34,150,220 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $182.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.87. The stock has a market cap of $290.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. Analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley named Amy Oldenburg head of Digital Asset Strategy as the bank pushes into crypto — including recent crypto‑ETF filings and a planned wallet — signaling a move to capture fee revenue and client flows in digital assets. Morgan Stanley appoints new head of digital asset strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley closed its acquisition of private‑share platform EquityZen, strengthening its private‑markets distribution and wealth-management product offering — a potential long‑term source of recurring fees and client retention. Morgan Stanley Closes Acquisition of EquityZen
• Positive Sentiment: Research lift for space/“orbital economy” from institutional desks (including Morgan Stanley coverage) is drawing retail + institutional interest into space‑tech stocks — a thematic driver that can boost M&A, underwriting and trading activity for the bank. Space Stock Boom: Why Retail and Wall Street Are Aligning (MS)
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage & model recognition: market commentary that RBC and others view MS’s multi‑engine business/model favorably supports sentiment that MS’s franchise strategy is working. Morgan Stanley’s (MS) Multi-Engine Model Impresses RBC
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro context — Morgan Stanley economists are featured in Fed coverage noting a likely pause in policy; a stable short‑term rate path helps banks’ near‑term net interest income visibility but keeps longer‑term rate risk in play. Fed expected to keep rates unchanged as Chair Powell pivots back to economics
• Neutral Sentiment: Minor corporate housekeeping: filings show Morgan Stanley ceased being a substantial shareholder in certain small resource names — routine portfolio adjustments with limited impact on MS fundamentals. Morgan Stanley Ceases to Be Substantial Shareholder 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.