Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,873 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,354,142 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,387,005,000 after acquiring an additional 749,150 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,234,883,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,894,023,000 after purchasing an additional 374,711 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,980,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,546,659,000 after purchasing an additional 28,420 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results & valuation check: recent coverage highlights Morgan Stanley’s better-than-expected Q4 earnings and a rebound in investment banking activity — the core drivers cited for the stock’s move as investors price in stronger fee revenue and improved outlook. Morgan Stanley valuation check
• Positive Sentiment: Index positioning: a note that Morgan Stanley is positioned among Russell 1000 ETF constituents supports expectations of incremental passive inflows if/when indices are rebalanced — a technical bid to shares. MS Positioned Among Russell 1000 ETF Constituents
• Positive Sentiment: Advisory momentum: Morgan Stanley topped power-sector M&A advisory in 2025 — evidence its advisory pipeline and fee generation are strong, reinforcing the investment-banking recovery narrative. That supports revenue diversification beyond markets. Morgan Stanley tops power M&A
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional flows / stake moves: a small buy by Linscomb Wealth marginally increased MS holdings — a minor positive signal about demand from wealth managers but not material to stock direction. Linscomb Wealth purchases MS shares
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment-banking pipeline evidence: Morgan Stanley appears among anchor/backer activity on deals (e.g., Fractal Analytics IPO anchor interest), underscoring continued capital-markets engagement — supportive over time but not an immediate share-mover. Fractal Analytics anchor investors
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade: Evercore ISI trimmed Morgan Stanley from “strong-buy” to “hold” — a near-term headwind for sentiment that can cap upside until guidance/earnings prove durable. Evercore downgrade / Zacks note
• Negative Sentiment: Sector costs & policy risk: Reuters reports U.S. banks increased lobbying as policy fights heat up — a reminder of rising regulatory/policy risk and possible higher compliance costs that affect all large banks, including MS. Banks boost Washington lobbying

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Evercore ISI cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total value of $2,942,225.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $180.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $180.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market capitalization of $286.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $192.68.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley 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.