Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Core Alternative Capital

Core Alternative Capital lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,771 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 1.6% of Core Alternative Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Core Alternative Capital’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.7% during the third quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 25,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 83.6% during the 3rd quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 20,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 9,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 101,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,151,000 after buying an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction of $2,942,225.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,464,920. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 196,223 shares of company stock worth $34,150,220 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective 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. 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. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. 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 report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Key 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

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:MS opened at $182.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

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.